Rapid beam scanning using a mode-locked laser-driven laser array

Abstract

A scheme for driving a laser-array with the spatially dispersed spectral components of a mode-locked laser to achieve very rapid (<or=1 ns) beam scanning is outlined. In the proposed scheme, the precisely-timed periodic pulse train generated by a mode-locked picosecond laser is used as the injection-locking source for the separate lasers of an uncoupled laser array. In a mode-locked picosecond laser, the time-varying gain or loss in the laser cavity forces the oscillating modes to be precisely equally-spaced spectrally and exactly phase-locked leading to a train of precisely-timed periodic short pulses in the output. The corresponding equally-spaced and phase-locked CW spectral components of a single mode-locked laser can be used as a source for locking the individual lasers oscillating in the fundamental spatial modes in an uncoupled laser-array for beam-scanning. The schematic of a conceptual proposal of such a system is presented, and the practical implementation of such a mode-locked-laser-driven laser array is considered.<<ETX>>