4. Alternative techniques and secondary applications for laser combination

We've just presented the main techniques for combining laser sources, those that enable lasers to be optimally ramped up.

There are other combination techniques, evaluated and studied in the past, but less frequently implemented than the previous ones.

The techniques presented so far have been used mainly to combine continuously emitting laser sources. Many lasers emit short pulses, whose duration can be in the nanosecond (1 to 500 ns), picosecond (1 to 500 ps) or femtosecond (10 to 500 fs) range. Combining pulsed lasers generally represents a greater challenge than combining continuous lasers, and here we will also examine the applicability of combining techniques to these pulsed sources.

Finally, we'll show how certain laser combination techniques can be exploited to shape a laser's wavefront and compensate for...