16kW single mode CW laser with dynamic beam for material processing

The principles of coherent beam combining for multiple fiber laser amplifiers is presented and discussed, with a focus on the optical phased array (OPA) beam combining technique. Several unique properties of OPA beam combining such as real time control over beam scanning, beam shape, focal plane position and intensity modulation with a MHz bandwidth open up several important new degrees of freedom for materials processing applications, enabling higher throughput, more efficient operation and advanced processing techniques. A 16kW dynamic laser beam at 1064nm based on coherent combination of 32 parallel ytterbium doped fiber amplifiers is presented, together with some example beam profiles.