Patent ID: 7539224

Claim:
A high power laser system, comprising: a master oscillator, for generating a reference laser beam of desired beam quality and other properties; means for dividing the reference beam into multiple sub-beams; a multi-slab gain module positioned to receive the multiple sub-beams as input beams and to generate multiple amplified output sub-beams, wherein the multi-slab gain module comprises at least one plurality of solid state slabs functioning as zig-zag amplifiers, at least one source of pump power disposed adjacent to sides of the gain module, and a common liquid cooling system for cooling the slabs; output sub-beam sampling means; phase comparison means, for comparing each sampled output sub-beam with the reference beam; and phase adjustment means, for adjusting the sub-beams in phase to allow the output sub-beams to be coherently combined as a single composite output beam.