Design of 4 X 1 Power Beam Combiner Based on MultiCore Photonic Crystal Fiber

A novel concept of 4 x 1 power beam combiner based on multicore photonic crystal fiber is described. The light coupling obtained by integrating small air-holes in the multicore photonic crystal fiber (PCF) structure allows light coupling between coherent laser sources to the central core. The beam propagation method (BPM) and coupled mode theory were used for analyzing the proposed device. Simulation results show that four coherent fiber laser sources of 1 mu m in a multicore PCF structure can be combined into one source after 2.6 mm light propagation, with a power efficiency of 99.6% and bandwidth of 220 nm. In addition, a higher 8 x 1 ratio combiner was demonstrated, based on the proposed device. Thus, the device can be very useful to combine beams.