I have been thinking about the following question. I would be very
interested to hear some of the listmembers' thoughts.
To what extent can one combine beams from separate lasers into a single beam?
Specifically:
* what system of optics might one use to do the combining?
* assuming the lasers are not synchronized, what issues of coherence
and interference might arise?
* given some measure of the beam quality of the input beams (perhaps
M^2 or some other description of the occupation of the various TE and
TM modes), what is the theoretical best possible quality of the
output beam?
Any pointers to specific references (preferably including page
numbers) would be greatly appreciated. (But random thoughts off the
top of one's head can also be helpful.) Carl
--
Carl E. Mungan, Asst. Prof. of Physics 410-293-6680 (O) -3729 (F)
U.S. Naval Academy, Stop 9C, Annapolis, MD 21402-5026
mungan@usna.edu http://physics.usna.edu/physics/faculty/mungan/