A new approach to asymmetric feedback in a segmented broad area diode laser

We present the demonstration of a non-critical setup for asymmetric feedback in a segmented broad area diode laser. We compare the dependence of the beam quality on the position of the dispersive element for standard spectral beam combining and our new non-critical setup. We find that our new approach is significantly less critical to the position of the dispersive element. It is shown that we can displace the dispersive element by at least 50% of the focal length of the collimating lens away from the Fourier plane without compromising performance. Furthermore, our approach provides the same high beam quality as is possible using off-axis spectral beam combining. This provides the possibility of achieving a high beam quality in a more compact setup than previously possible.