Spatially coherent beam formation and mode locking of an array of solid-state lasers

A study is reported on the spatially coherent beam formation from an array of four Nd-glass lasers and on mode locking their longitudinal modes. The results indicate a nearly 16 times increase in radiance. For mode locking, only a single modulator is required. A spatial filter in the optical cavity performs the spatially coherent beam formation and the precision synchronization of the mode-locked pulses at the output mirror of the optical cavity.