Abstract: The optical system includes a stack of lensed, AR-coated laser diode bars and optics to brighten the stack's output. A spatial filter forces each bar to lase in one or a few high-order modes having two strong emission lobes. Radiation in the first lobe is passed to a collimating optic to form a filtered image of each of the lensed diode bars on an associated grating, whose angle then determines the lasing wavelength of that bar. Radiation in the second lobe is directed into an output path where another collimating optic produces an array of spatially separated, collimated beams. The wavelengths set for each beam allow them to be spectrally combined into a single, multi-wavelength, collimated output beam possessing substantially the same cross section and divergence as an individual input beam.

Abstract: The optical system includes a stack of lensed, AR-coated laser diode bars and optics to brighten the stack's output. A spatial filter forces each bar to lase in one or a few high-order modes having two strong emission lobes. Radiation in the first lobe is passed to a collimating optic to form a filtered image of each of the lensed diode bars on an associated grating, whose angle then determines the lasing wavelength of that bar. Radiation in the second lobe is directed into an output path where another collimating optic produces an array of spatially separated, collimated beams. The wavelengths set for each beam allow them to be spectrally combined into a single, multi-wavelength, collimated output beam possessing substantially the same cross section and divergence as an individual input beam.