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Spectral beam combining of discrete quantum cascade lasers

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Abstract

In this paper, we report a spectral beam combining technique based on discrete quantum cascade lasers at λ ~ 4.8 μm. Good beam qualities of M2 < 1.3 for both fast and slow axes are obtained. The entire spectrum span is approximately 29.1 cm−1, which is consistent with the theoretical results of grating equation. Maximum beam combining efficiency of 58.9% with output power exceeding 1 W is demonstrated under continuous wave operation at room temperature. The limit of beam combining efficiency is theoretically investigated. The independent temperature control for the discrete lasers circumvented the issue of thermal crosstalk between the lasers on an array and pave the way to high power and high efficiency laser spectral beam combining.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Liang Ping and Hu Ying. The authors were also grateful to Dr. Lu QuanYong, Jia ZhiWei and Liu ChuanWei for their help in essay writing. This work was supported by National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2018YFA0209103, 2018YFB2200504), in part by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61991430, 61774146, 61790583, 61674144, 61774150), in part by Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission (Grant No. Z201100004020006), and in part by the Key projects of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant Nos. 2018147, Grant Nos. YJKYYQ20190002, Grant QYZDJ-SSW-JSC027, Grant XDB43000000).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Materials Science, Beijing Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Semiconductor Materials and Devices, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    Zenghui Gu, Jinchuan Zhang, Shenqiang Zhai, Ning Zhuo, Shuman Liu, Junqi Liu, Lijun Wang, Fengqi Liu & Zhanguo Wang

  2. Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Zenghui Gu, Jinchuan Zhang, Shenqiang Zhai, Ning Zhuo, Shuman Liu, Junqi Liu, Lijun Wang, Fengqi Liu & Zhanguo Wang

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  1. Zenghui Gu
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  2. Jinchuan Zhang
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  3. Shenqiang Zhai
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  4. Ning Zhuo
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  5. Shuman Liu
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  7. Lijun Wang
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  9. Zhanguo Wang
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Correspondence to Jinchuan Zhang.

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Gu, Z., Zhang, J., Zhai, S. et al. Spectral beam combining of discrete quantum cascade lasers. Opt Quant Electron 53, 584 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-021-03242-x

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