title: Apodized holographic beam combiners for dense wavelength multiplexing based on Gaussian-beam interference.
abstract: The brightness of high-power diode-laser systems can be significantly increased by using dense wavelength-multiplexing technologies. Among these technologies, state-of-the-art volume holographic gratings (VHGs) are suitable wavelength-selective filters for scaling the power of frequency-stabilized high-power lasers. The frequency spacing is limited due to the sidelobes of the spectral filter characteristic. In this Letter, we present the simulation results of novel apodized VHGs produced by Gaussian-beam interference. Apodized VHGs offer increased sidelobe suppression of up to 22 dB with conventional grating dimensions and, moreover, will improve the spectral brightness of dense wavelength-multiplexing systems by a factor of approximately six.
authors.affiliation: RWTH Aachen University Steinbachstraße 15, Aachen 52074, Germany.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nippgen
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hengesbach
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Traub
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hoffmann