Compensated, SBS-free optical beam amplification and delivery apparatus and method
AssigneeHughes Aircraft Company
InventorsDavid A. Rockwell, John L. Bartelt
Life of this patent
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AssigneeHughes Aircraft Company
InventorsDavid A. Rockwell, John L. Bartelt
Estimating the term…
An optical beam amplification and delivery system and method employs a central station with a laser oscillator, a laser amplifier and a phase conjugate mirror (PCM). Low power, near diffraction limited laser beams are delivered to each of a plurality of local stations through single-mode polarization preserving fibers. From the local stations the low power beams are transmitted back to the central station through high power multi-mode optical fibers. At the central station the received beams are amplified, phase conjugated and transmitted back through the amplifier and multi-mode fibers to their respective local stations. Distortions imposed upon the beams by the multi-mode fibers during transmission back to the central station, and by the amplifier, are compensated during the return path, providing high power yet near diffraction limited beam quality at the local stations. Attenuation through stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) is inhibited by selecting an appropriate aggregate diameter for the multi-mode fibers.
An optical beam amplification and delivery system, comprising:
A method of providing an amplified relatively diffraction limited optical signal for use at a first local station, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.