| US 7,532,392 B1 | ||
| Dark channel array | ||
| Monica L. Minden, Calabasas, Calif. (US); Hans W. Bruesselbach, Calabasas, Calif. (US); Oleg M. Efimov, Thousand Oaks, Calif. (US); Shuoqin Wang, Westlake Village, Calif. (US); and Daniel Yap, Newbury Park, Calif. (US) | ||
| Assigned to HRL Laboratories, Malibu, Calif. (US) | ||
| Filed on Mar. 29, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/392,140. | ||
| Int. Cl. H01S 5/00 (2006.01); H01S 3/00 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 359—344 [372/50.12; 372/50.123] | 52 Claims |
| 1. A dark channel array, comprising:
a) a plurality of gain channels, each gain channel configured to emit an output beam from an output surface of the dark channel
array and to have a light wave propagating therethrough;
b) a dark channel configured to emit an output beam from the output surface of the dark channel array and to have a light
wave propagating in the dark channel;
c) wherein the light waves propagating in the plurality of gain channels and the dark channel are coupled together and produce
an interferometric wavefront propagating along a longitudinal direction of the dark channel array, the output beams from the
plurality of gain channels being coherently coupled in phase with each other; and
d) wherein the propagation of the interferometric wavefront creates a null light intensity at a location in the dark channel.
|