EFFICIENT 3-D LADAR SOURCE IN THE PHASE I PROGRAM WE DEMONSTRATED THE EFFICACY OF THE PROPOSED INNOVATION B…

Public award description

EFFICIENT 3-D LADAR SOURCE IN THE PHASE I PROGRAM WE DEMONSTRATED THE EFFICACY OF THE PROPOSED INNOVATION BY EXPERIMENTALLY DEMONSTRATING AN IMPROVEMENT IN SLOPE EFFICIENCY OF ~11% BY CHANGING THE PUMP WAVELENGTH FROM 806-NM TO THE 863-NM, WHICH DIRECTLY PUMPS THE UPPER LASER LEVEL OF THE 1047-NM LASER TRANSITION IN ND:YLF. THIS LEVEL OF IMPROVEMENT IN EFFICIENCY IS SIGNIFICANT FOR SPACE-BASED SYSTEMS WHERE OVERALL EFFICIENCY IS OF GREAT VALUE. IN ADDITION TO THE OPTICAL-TO-OPTICAL EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT, THERE IS A LOWER HEAT LOAD IN THE GAIN MEDIUM REDUCING THE COOLING REQUIREMENTS. IN THIS WORK WE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR BROAD EXPERIENCE WITH ND:YLF AND THE UNIQUE ADVANTAGES OF THE MPS(TM) DESIGN TO DEVELOP AN ALL-SOLID-STATE, COMPACT, CONDUCTIVELY-COOLED LASER SYSTEM OPERATING IN 1- M REGION WITH AN OUTPUT ENERGY OF NOMINALLY 30 MJ AND A PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY (PRF) OF 30 HZ. THE SPECIFIC GOAL OF THIS PROJECT WILL BE TO PRODUCE A LASER DESIGN THAT IS SUITABLE FOR USE IN 3-D FLASH LADAR SYSTEMS HOUSED IN SPACECRAFT AND USED FOR AUTOMATED LANDING AND HAZARD AVOIDANCE IN DIFFICULT TERRAIN AND TO DELIVER TO NASA LARC A WORKING PROTOTYPE OF THIS LASER DESIGN THAT IS SUITABLE FOR USE IN TERRESTRIAL TESTING OF FLASH LADAR SYSTEMS WHEN IT IS INTEGRATED WITH A SUITABLE LADAR RECEIVER.