Self-coherent combining technique for high power laser implementation and method

A high-energy laser comprising:

• a first fiber oscillator for providing a first beam, said first fiber oscillator having a first length;
• a second fiber oscillator for providing a second beam, said second fiber oscillator having a second length, said second length being different from said first length;
• and
• a polarizing beamsplitter for coherently combining said first and said second beams to produce a third beam.

A beam combining method, comprising:

• providing a first beam of electromagnetic energy, including the step of guiding said first beam along a first predetermined length with a first guided structure;
• providing a second beam of electromagnetic energy, including the step of guiding said second beam along a second predetermined length with a second guided structure, said second predetermined length being different from said first predetermined length;
• and
• coherently combining said first and second beams with a polarizing beam splitter to produce a third beam.

An arrangement comprising:

• first means for providing a first beam of electromagnetic energy, said first means including means for guiding said first beam along a first length;
• second means for providing a second beam of electromagnetic energy, said second means including means for guiding said second beam along a second length;
• third means arranged at a node for coherently combining said first and second beams with a polarizing beam splitter to produce a combined beam that propagates in a first direction;
• and
• fourth means for coherently phase locking said first and second beams by feeding back said combined beam back toward said node in a direction opposite to the first direction.

A high-energy laser comprising:

• a first fiber oscillator configured to provide a first beam;
• a first polarizer configured to convert the first beam to a first polarization;
• a second fiber oscillator for providing a second beam;
• a second polarizer configured to convert the second beam to a second polarization, the second polarization being different that the first polarization;
• a free-space coherent combining node configured to coherently combine said first and said second beams;
• and
• a polarization element configured to couple the first and second polarizations of the first and second beams to provide a combined beam having a polarization determined in response to a polarization feedback of the laser output.