INTRODUCTION THIS SBIR PHASE III IS THE CONTINUATION OF THE PHASE II ENTITLED "SPACE QUALIFIED 1064 NM SEED…

Public award description

INTRODUCTION THIS SBIR PHASE III IS THE CONTINUATION OF THE PHASE II ENTITLED "SPACE QUALIFIED 1064 NM SEED AND METROLOGY LASER." IN 2004, FIBERTEK, INC. WAS AWARDED A SBIR PHASE I O DEVELOP A CONTINUOUS WAVE (CW) SINGLE FREQUENCY LASER FOR USE IN A NUMBER OF POTENTIAL SPACE-BASED APPLICATIONS (CONTRACT # NNL04AB39P). THE PHASE I DEMONSTRATION OF A BREADBOARD VERSION OF THE LASER BASED ON MICRO-CHIP LASER TECHNOLOGY LEAD TO A PHASE II AWARD (NNL05AA39C). IN THE STILL ONGOING PHASE II EFFORT, THE FOCUSES ARE DEVELOPING MORE HARDENED OPTO-MECHANICAL PACKAGING, IMPROVED FREQUENCY STABILITY, AND THE DESIGN OF RADIATION HARDENED ELECTRONICS. THE DESIGNS AND TECHNIQUES IN THIS SBIR PHASE III, PARTICULARLY THE DESIGNS FOR IMPROVED FREQUENCY STABILITY AND HARDENED OPTO-MECHANICAL PACKAGING SHALL BE APPLICABLE TO THE DESIGN OF THE 2 M RISK REDUCTION LASER. SCOPE THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS SBIR PHASE III IS TO DEVELOP 2 M RISK REDUCTION LASER TRANSMITTERS (RRLT) FOR A SPACE-BASED COHERENT DOPPLER WIND LIDAR SYSTEM. THIS APPROACH FOLLOWS THE SUCCESSFUL CALIPSO MODEL THAT BEGINS WITH THE BUILD OF A RRLT TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THE HARDWARE IS READY FOR A FLIGHT MISSION. BY MEETING THIS OBJECTIVE AND THEN DEMONSTRATING THAT THE LASER MEETS THE MISSION LIFETIME, NASA WILL ADVANCE THE TECHNOLOGY READINESS LEVEL OF THE LASER FROM 4 TO 6. TWO 2- M RRLTS THAT PROVIDE NASA ACCEPTABLE POWER MARGIN OVER THE BASELINE DESIGN OF 250MJ AT 10 HZ USED IN THE WIND LIDAR STUDIES SHALL BE DEVELOPED IN THIS PROGRAM. ONE OF THE RRLT SHALL USE THE PUMP LASER DIODES AT NOMINAL WAVELENGTH OF 792NM. THE OTHER RRLT SHALL USE THE PUMP LASER DIODES AT 808NM THAT ARE COOLED TO GENERATE THE REQUIRED PUMP WAVELENGTH AT 792NM. THIS APPROACH TAKES ADVANTAGES OF HIGH POWER, LONG LIFETIME AND HIGH RELIABILITY PROVIDED BY LASER DIODES AT 808NM. THE DESIGN OF THE LASER WILL BE BASED ON THE 2- M LASER TECHNOLOGY THAT HAS BEEN DEVELOPED AT LANGLEY AS PART OF THE LASER RISK REDUCTION PROGRAM (LRRP). THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS FOR FIBERTEK AND LANGLEY TO ENGINEER A MORE ROBUSTLY PACKAGED 2 M LASER BASED ON THIS TECHNOLOGY THAT CAN BE USED AS A RISK REDUCTION DEMONSTRATOR IN PREPARATION FOR AIRBORNE AND SPACE-BASED DOPPLER WIND LIDAR MISSIONS. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS TASK 1: PERFORM A TRADE STUDY TO DEVELOP A CONCEPTUAL 2- M RRLT DESIGN A) THE CONTRACTOR, IN CONSULTATION WITH NASA, SHALL PERFORM A TRADE STUDY THAT SHALL: REVIEW KEY LIDAR AND LASER DESIGN CONCEPTS; EVALUATE THE BEST PUMP DIODES FOR USE IN THE 2 M RRLT; DEVELOP CONCEPTS FOR FURTHER HARDENING THE PUMP HEAD AND LASER TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED AT NASA UNDER NASA LASER RISK REDUCTION PROGRAM EVALUATE THE LASER RESONATOR DESIGN AND SELECT THE BEST OPTION TO MEET THE SPACE LASER OPERATION REQUIREMENT; IDENTIFY AND ASSESS THE RISK AREAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE LASER DEVELOPMENT; ESTIMATE THE COST FOR BUILDING THE 2- M RRLT AND; THE BASELINE DESIGN SHALL OPERATE THE RRLT WITH THE PUMP DIODE OPERATING CURRENT DERATED AT LEAST 30% FROM ITS SPECIFICATION VALUE OF 100W/BAR LEVEL. TASK 2: DEVELOP A DETAILED OPTO-MECHANICAL DESIGN OF THE RRLTS A) THE CONTRACTOR SHALL ENSURE THE FOLLOWING: THE BASELINE DESIGN FOR THE 2 M RRLTS IS A MASTER OSCILLATOR/POWER AMPLIFIER (MOPA) THAT CONSIST OF ONE OSCILLATOR AND ONE AMPLIFIER; THE MASTER OSCILLATOR IS A RING RESONATOR CONFIGURATION THAT IS INJECTION SEEDED BY A NARROW LINEWIDTH CONTINUOUS WAVE (CW) LASER. AT A MINIMUM, THE OUTPUT IS NEAR DIFFRACTION LIMITED BEAM QUALITY WITH M2 ≤ 1.2 AND SINGLE LONGITUDINAL MODE AND; THE OUTPUT ENERGY OF THE RRLTS SHALL BE NO LESS THAN 250MJ AT 10HZ. THE SIZE OF THE RRLTS SHALL BE NO BIGGER THAN 0.075M^3. THE WEIGHT FOR EACH OF THE RRLT SHALL BE LESS THAN 30KG. THE OSCILLATOR AND AMPLIFIER HEAD MODULE SHALL BE DIODE PUMPED AND CONDUCTIVE COOLED. ONE OF THE DESIGN GOALS IS TO HAVE THE PUMP LASER DIODES AND LASER CRYSTALS COOLED WITHOUT INVOLVING HEAT PIPES. THE DETAILED OPTICAL, MECHA