Abstract

During the past decade, it has become clear that phase conjugation offers an approach whereby the performance of laser amplifiers can be significantly improved and extended. Early applications of phase conjugation to solid state lasers have demonstrated improved beam quality and the possibility of compensating static or thermally induced birefringence. This presentation reviews recent advances in phase conjugate amplifiers that establish significant additional capabilities. For example, phase conjugation is presently being applied to alternative laser amplifiers, such as semiconductor diode lasers and carbon dioxide lasers. Phase conjugation also offers the possibility of coherently coupling multiple parallel amplifiers, thereby allowing energy scaling well in excess of the level traditionally set by the maximum available size of any particular amplifier medium. In systems requiring precise pointing of a laser beam relative to a fixed reference direction, phase conjugation can be employed to eliminate any deviation in the pointing direction introduced by optical components or mounts.

© 1989 Optical Society of America