COHERENT COUPLING OF MUTUALLY NONRESONANT WAVE-GUIDE LASERS BY SYNCHRONIZATION OF SUPERMODES FROM LOCALLY COMPOSED MODE CLUSTERS

Frequency locking of fiber lasers arranged in an array with a nonperio dic order possessing randomly distributed lengths is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. Two coupling methods with different coupling lengths are used to synthesize mode clusters as well as to s elect and synchronize the sub-supermodes from the mode clusters to for m an overall supermode. Frequency locking of 220 lasing elements in an array containing 720 lasers results in a 14-fold increase in the brig htness compared with the brightness of an uncoupled laser array. In ad dition, results are presented describing how to control the far-field distribution of a disordered array. (C) 1996 Optical Society of Americ a.