THE OVERALL GOAL OF THE SBIR EFFORT IS TO DEVELOP A FREQUENCY-AGILE, STAND-ALONE, SPACE-HARDENED DIODE-BASE…

Public award description

THE OVERALL GOAL OF THE SBIR EFFORT IS TO DEVELOP A FREQUENCY-AGILE, STAND-ALONE, SPACE-HARDENED DIODE-BASED SEED LASER WITH OPTIONS FOR LOCKING AND FREQUENCY AGILITY TO COMPENSATE FOR DOPPLER SHIFT DURING ORBIT. THIS US-MANUFACTURED PLATFORM WILL BE APPLICABLE FOR SEEDING NEXT GENERATION ND:YAG LASERS CURRENTLY BEING DEVELOPED FOR HIGH-PRIORITY-DESIGNATED AEROSOL MISSIONS (SINGLE- AND MULTICHANNEL BACKSCATTER), FOR EXPLORER MISSIONS FOR TRACE GAS AND METHANE SENSING, AS WELL AS FOR FUTURE-LOOKING INCUBATION MISSIONS. UNDER THIS PHASE I EFFORT, ADVR PROPOSES TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF PROGRAMMABLE DOPPLER-SHIFT COMPENSATION FOR A COMPACT, DIODEBASED SEED LASER, AS WELL AS TO PROVIDE A BASELINE DESIGN FOR A STAND-ALONE, FREQUENCY AGILE, SPACE-QUALIFIED SYSTEM TO BE BUILT AND TESTED TO TRL 6 BY THE END OF THE PHASE II EFFORT. THIS TECHNOLOGY DIRECTLY ADDRESSES THE NEED FOR STATE-OF-THE-ART LIDAR TECHNOLOGY WITH AN EMPHASIS ON COMPACTNESS, EFFICIENCY, RELIABILITY, LIFETIME, AND HIGH PERFORMANCE, AND WILL ADVANCE THE ACCURACY OF ATMOSPHERIC SPACE-BASED MEASUREMENTS, AS DESCRIBED IN THE NASA SBIR TOPIC S.101 LIDAR REMOTE LIDAR SENSING TECHNOLOGIES.