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arXiv · 2201.03285

The scaling potential of beam-splitter-based coherent beam combination

Michael Mueller·Christopher Aleshire·Joachim Buldt·Henning Stark·Christian Grebing·Arno Klenke·Jens Limpert
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Abstract

The impact of nonlinear refraction and residual absorption on the achievable peak and average power in beam-splitter-based coherent beam combination is analyzed theoretically. While the peak power remains limited only by the aperture size, a fundamental average power limit is given by the thermo-optical and thermo-mechanical properties of the beam splitter material and its coatings. Based on our analysis, 100 kW average power can be obtained with state-of-the-art optics at maintained high beam quality (M2 {\leq} 1.1) and at only 2% loss of combining efficiency. This result indicates that the power-scaling potential of today's beam-splitter-based coherent beam combination is far from being depleted. A potential scaling route to megawatt-level average power is discussed for optimized beam splitter geometry.

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Michael Mueller, Christopher Aleshire, Joachim Buldt, Henning Stark, Christian Grebing, Arno Klenke, Jens Limpert. 2022-01-10. The scaling potential of beam-splitter-based coherent beam combination. https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.433596

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