OPTIMAL PHASE FILTERING FOR HIGH-POWER LASER ARRAY FAR-FIELD DISTRIBUTION

We present numerical simulations of the propagation of the field emitt ed by laser arrays consisting of a small number of elements. Our compu tations show how propagation transforms part of an amplitude modulatio n into a phase modulation. This fact can be used to enhance the centra l lobe energy in the far field of high-power laser arrays by means of a simple corrective optical element. We discuss optimal filtering cond itions and prove that the quarter-Talbot distance generally used in pr evious studies is not the best choice.