Coherent combining and phase control for Directed Energy Weapons (DEW)

Programs to develop Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) have gained momentum, driven by the emergence of easily deployable laser sources and the increasing presence of drones on the battlefield. Solid-state fiber lasers offer multiple benefits, including thermal stability, high efficiency, elimination of the reliance on free-space optics, and, most importantly, excellent beam quality offered by waveguide technology. However, generating a high-power fiber source of around 10 kW to destroy a drone while preserving optimal beam quality poses a significant challenge. One possible solution is to combine medium-power, narrow linewidth fiber sources, but traditional combining techniques show limited effectiveness (achieving around 50 to 65% efficiency for tiled-aperture beam combining). Cailabs is actively engaged in research to address this challenge for DEW by enabling high-efficiency coherent beam combining with active phase control between sources. This method results in a high-power combined beam of optimum quality.
Cailabs currently offers a phase control solution that achieves an 80% combining efficiency at 1 µm on target