Gimbal for aligning laser and lenslet arrays for coherent operation in an external cavity

Abstract

We describe a miniature alignment stage designed for use with semiconductor diode laser and lenslet arrays. The device achieves 0.03-mrad angular and 0.3-microm linear precision utilizing metal flexures and piezoelectric transducers in a mechanical arrangement that provides compactness and repeatability not obtainable with other types of components. It has been used successfully to coherently combine output of a linear diode laser array of five elements and can accommodate a 2-D array.