Brightness-Scaling Potential of Actively Phase-Locked Solid-State Laser Arrays

Abstract

Recent progress in developing phased arrays of high-brightness solid-state lasers is summarized. We address the prospects for continued brightness-scaling via a model that extrapolates measured results to large numbers of array elements and provides a quantitative illustration of the features of coherent beam combination. This demonstrates that with present-day technology, both slab and fiber lasers have the capability to scale to unprecedented brightness levels.