FIBERTEK, INC. WILL DEVELOP A SINGLE-FREQUENCY, ER:YAG LASER TRANSMITTER TO ADVANCE THE TECHNOLOGICAL READI…

Public award description

FIBERTEK, INC. WILL DEVELOP A SINGLE-FREQUENCY, ER:YAG LASER TRANSMITTER TO ADVANCE THE TECHNOLOGICAL READINESS LEVEL (TRL) OF A KEY TECHNOLOGY COMPONENT OF THE 3D WIND MEASUREMENTS IDENTIFIED IN THE RECENT EARTH SCIENCE DECADAL SURVEY THRIVING ON OUR CHANGING PLANET: A DECADAL STRATEGY FOR EARTH OBSERVATION FROM SPACE . THE ER:YAG DEVELOPMENT WILL ADVANCE THE TECHNOLOGY OF A SPACE-BASED WIND LIDAR SYSTEM BY FOCUSING ON DEVELOPING A COMPACT, EFFICIENT DIODE PUMPED TRANSMITTER THAT IS CONDUCTIVELY COOLED. CURRENT EFFICIENT 2 M SYSTEMS ARE PUMPED BY FIBER LASERS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE HIGH BRIGHTNESS SOURCE, BUT THIS TENDS TO INCREASE THE PACKAGING FOOT PRINT. TO MAINTAIN LONG PULSEWIDTHS>100NS, THE 2 M SYSTEMS CAVITIES ARE TYPICALLY GREATER THAN 2 METERS IN LENGTH. BY WORKING AT HIGHER REPETITION RATES (500HZ OR ABOVE) THAN ARE TYPICALLY TARGETED IN 2 M SYSTEMS, FIBERTEK WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE LONG STORAGE TIME OF ER:YAG TO MAINTAIN EFFICIENT OPERATION, WHILE OPERATING AT LONGER PULSE LENGTHS IN A SHORTER CAVITY (WITH RESPECT TO HO:YLF SYSTEMS OF SIMILAR PULSE LENGTHS) DUE TO THE LOW GAIN OF THE ER:YAG. FIBERTEK S APPROACH WILL BE BASED ON AN ER:YAG RESONATOR OPERATING AT 1645NM AND RESONANTLY PUMPED BY HIGH BRIGHTNESS SEMICONDUCTOR LASER DIODES. THIS PROGRAM WILL BUILD ON SUCCESSFUL ER:YAG WORK AT FIBERTEK FOCUSED ON METHANE AND WATER VAPOR LIDARS. THESE SYSTEMS ARE 7-10W SYSTEMS OPTIMIZED FOR OPERATION AT HIGHER REPETITION RATES. THE PHASE I WORK WILL DEMONSTRATE A HIGH POWER (>12.5W) OSCILLATOR OPTIMIZED FOR 500HZ OPERATION WITH A TECHNOLOGY READINESS LEVEL 4 (TRL-4) FOR A COHERENT WIND LIDAR. IN PHASE II WE WILL DEVELOP A HARDENED BRASSBOARD VERSION OF THE LASER THAT WOULD BE SUITABLE FOR AIRBORNE SYSTEMS. WE WILL ALSO PERFORM A TRADE STUDY ON HOW TO ACHIEVE THE HIGHEST DAMAGE THRESHOLD COATINGS AT 1.6455 M.