100 W coherently combined picosecond optical vortices

Abstract

Optical vortices (OVs), spiral-shaped light beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM), have gained significant attention and widespread applications since their introduction in 1989 [1]. OVs, characterized by a helical phase front and intrinsic OAM, have proven highly versatile across various research domains. By carefully tailoring the spatial structure of OVs, researchers can manipulate their properties to achieve functionalities that surpass those of conventional beams. However, as demand for high-power spatially structured beams grows, traditional methods face challenges in power scaling. To address these limitations, we utilize coherent beam combining (CBC), a robust technique for scaling the power of OVs while preserving their critical characteristics [2,3]. Previously, in [3], we demonstrated CBC of OVs at the 100-mW level. In this work, we have scaled the power by a factor of 1000 (up to 100 W) and improved the combining efficiency for high topological charges.