Abstract

Many applications of high-power phased-array diode lasers require the laser emission to have a single-lobe, narrow far-field pattern. Only the lowest-order supermode has this property, hence all higher-order array modes should be suppressed. Considerable attention has been given to phased arrays with variable channel width [1] or nonuniform spacing [2]. Such chirped arrays have been considered in search of a design that might result in stable, lowest-order supermode operation. We have recently reported results of coupled-mode analysis for uniform arrays as well as chirped arrays with linear, triangular, and saw-tooth profiles [3]. This paper complements the previous work in that a number of new designs is considered. In particular, we examine for the first time the effects of simultaneously varying the channel width and spacing in the same array.

© 1987 Optical Society of America