Coherent combining with active phase control: A practical tool for adaptive and nonlinear optics

Coherent beam combining with active phase control is more than a simple laser power scaling technique. It can also be used to perform more efficient adaptive optics and to extend the capabilities of nonlinear optical devices. In a first part of this paper, an optimized tiled-aperture configuration for coherent adaptive optics is described. In a second part, coherent combining of frequency converters emitting in the mid-infrared is demonstrated and results presented. Finally, the challenges for optical parametric oscillators combining are discussed.