Influence of laser array performance on spectrally combined beam

Incoherent spectral beam combining (SBC) of multiple laser beams is accomplished along the emitters’ arraying direction. Considering that the output beams from a laser array (LA) usually have deflection angles, positional displacements and divergence angles even after being collimated, a propagation model of SBC systems based on multilayer dielectric gratings has been built up. On the basis, properties of the spectrally combined beam affected by parameters of the LA have been discussed in detail. Simulation results show that with the increase in the deflection angle, both the power and the beam quality of the combined beam degrade dramatically. The positional displacement has little impact on the intensity distribution and the beam quality of combined beam but change the wavelength composition of the combined beam. The divergence angle strongly affects the intensity distribution and the beam quality of the combined beam. Additionally, the effect of the deflection angle on the output beam quality is more obvious and may shift the beam spot when comparing with that of the divergence angle.