Optical pulse generator for high power fiber amplifiers

A system, comprising:

• a continuous wave laser configured to generate a continuous wave laser signal;
• a pulse generator configured to generate a pulse signal including a plurality of pulses, each of the plurality of pulses having a duration of approximately one nanosecond;
• an amplitude modulation system configured to receive the continuous wave laser signal and the pulse signal and to generate a plurality of shaped optical pulses;
• and
• a plurality of correcting phase modulation systems, wherein each of the plurality of correcting phase modulation systems includes a correcting phase modulator configured to receive one of the plurality of shaped optical pulses, a delayed pulse signal, and a pulse intensity level, wherein the correcting phase modulator generates a phase correcting signal responsive to the pulse intensity level and applies the phase correcting signal to one of the plurality of shaped optical pulses when driven by the delayed pulse signal.

A method, comprising:

• receiving a continuous wave laser signal;
• receiving a pulse signal;
• generating a shaped optical pulse from the continuous wave laser signal upon being driven by the pulse signal;
• receiving a pulse intensity level representing amplification phase resulting from subsequent amplification of the shaped optical pulse;
• generating a phase correcting signal based on the pulse intensity level, wherein the phase correcting signal is configured to pre-correct the shaped optical pulse to correct for accumulated optical nonlinear phase error resulting from the subsequent amplification of the shaped optical pulse;
• synchronizing application of the phase correcting signal to the shaped optical pulse;
• and
• applying the phase correcting signal to the shaped pulse to generate a pre-corrected shaped optical pulse.