Miniaturizing a coherent beam combining system into a compact laser diode module

We present a laser module with dimensions of 76 x 43 x 15 mm(3) that for the first time to our knowledge realizes a coherent beam combination in such a compact device, using two tapered amplifiers seeded by a distributed Bragg reflector ridge waveguide laser diode operating at 761 nm in a single longitudinal mode. The generated combined optical power is up to 5 W continuous wave with a combing efficiency of 85%. The phase of the system is controlled by the current in the ridge waveguide section of one of the tapered amplifiers. The phase-stabilization process is automated using a reverse hill-climbing algorithm and an ATmega328P microcontroller. (c) 2024 Optica Publishing Group