An analysis of a new type of high power semiconductor laser array is presented. The array consists of parallel, uncoupled waveguides linked atYjunctions in one region. We show that for the lowest threshold array mode all the waveguides oscillate in phase and all (except possibly the outermost) have equal amplitudes. The array mode should be stable above threshold and it radiates in a single‐lobe far‐field pattern if the individual waveguide mode width is comparable to the guide separation.