Wave combining apparatus for semiconductor lasers

A wave combining apparatus comprising:

• at least three semiconductor lasers, wherein at least two of said lasers produce first P polarized laser beams, and another of said lasers produces second S polarized laser beams;
• a first dichroic mirror for receiving said first P polarized laser beams and for producing a first resultant beam;
• a second dichroic mirror for receiving said second S polarized laser beams and for producing a second resultant beam;
• and
• a polarizing beam splitter prism for combining said first and second resultant beams into a single beam, wherein said single beam is coupled to an optical fiber.

A wave combining apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of first lasers for producing first laser beams;
• a plurality of second lasers for producing second laser beams;
• a first dichroic mirror for combining said first laser beams to produce a resultant beam;
• a second dichroic mirror for combining said second laser beams to produce a second resultant beam;
• a polarizing beam splitter prism for combining said first and second resultant beams into a single beam, wherein said single beam is coupled to an optical fiber;
• and
• at least one optical component positioned between each of said first and second dichroic mirrors and said polarizing beam splitter prism, for shaping said first and second resultant beams.

A wave combining apparatus comprising:

• a first dichroic mirror for receiving a pair of P polarized input laser beams, wherein said P polarized laser beams are disposed perpendicularly relative to each other, said first dichroic mirror combining said P polarized input laser beams into a first resultant beam by wavelength division;
• a second dichroic mirror for receiving S polarized input laser beams, for producing a second resultant beam;
• and
• a polarizing beam splitter prism for receiving first and second resultant beams for combining said first and second resultant beams into a single, combined beam to be coupled to an optical fiber.

A wave combining apparatus for combining a plurality of input laser beams into a single beam to be coupled to an optical fiber, comprising:

• at least two first semiconductor lasers for emitting first P polarized laser beams, said first semiconductor lasers being perpendicularly disposed along a first axis;
• a first dichroic mirror arranged to receive said first P polarized laser beams from said first semiconductor lasers for combining said first P polarized laser beams by wavelength division into a first resultant beam;
• at least two second semiconductor lasers for emitting second S polarized laser beams, said second semiconductor lasers being perpendicularly disposed along a second axis;
• a second dichroic mirror arranged to receive said second S polarized laser beams from said second semiconductor lasers and combine said second laser beams by wavelength division into a second resultant beam;
• and
• a polarizing beam splitter prism arranged to receive said first and second resultant beams, said polarizing beam splitter prism combining said first and second resultant beams into a single beam of combined oscillation to be coupled to an optical fiber.

A wave combining apparatus for combining a plurality of input laser beams into a single beam to be coupled to an optical fiber, comprising:

• a pair of first semiconductor lasers for emitting first P polarized laser beams;
• a first dichroic mirror for receiving said first P polarized laser beams and combining said first P polarized laser beams by wavelength division into a first resultant beam;
• a second semiconductor laser for emitting an S polarized laser beam;
• a second dichroic mirror for receiving said S polarized laser beam and for forming a second resultant beam;
• and
• a polarizing beam splitter prism arranged to receive said first and second resultant beams from said first and second dichroic mirrors, for combining said first and second resultant beams into a single beam to be coupled to an optical fiber, wherein said first and second resultant beams are disposed substantially perpendicular with respect to each other.

A method for combining laser beams to produce a highly efficient combined laser beam comprising the steps of:

• producing first P polarized laser beams with a plurality of semiconductor lasers;
• combining said first P polarized laser beams by waveform division with a dichroic mirror to produce a first resultant beam;
• producing at least one S polarized laser beam;
• producing a second resultant beam by passing said at least one S polarized laser beam through a second dichroic mirror;
• and
• combining said first and second resultant beams by means of a beam splitter prism to produce a combined laser beam to be coupled to an optical fiber.