THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED PHASE II EFFORT IS TO DEVELOP AND DELIVER A RUGGEDIZED, SINGLE-FREQUE…

Public award description

THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED PHASE II EFFORT IS TO DEVELOP AND DELIVER A RUGGEDIZED, SINGLE-FREQUENCY, MJ-LEVEL, 2050-NM MASTER OSCILLATOR POWER AMPLIFIER SYSTEM SUITABLE FOR COHERENT LIDAR APPLICATIONS. THE LASER SYSTEM IS BASED ON A LOW-AVERAGE POWER, PULSED, SINGLE-FREQUENCY, 2-UM HO-LASER SOURCE. PULSED OPERATION OF THE HO-OSCILLATOR IS ACHIEVED VIA PASSIVE Q-SWITCHING USING ROBUST CR2+-DOPED SATURABLE ABSORBERS. DEVELOPMENT OF SUCH PULSED SEED SOURCES ENABLES THE DESIGN OF COMPACT, RUGGED, RELIABLE AND EFFICIENT LIDAR TRANSMITTERS BASED ON ALL-AMPLIFIER ARCHITECTURE. DIRECT DIODE-PUMPING USING THE LATEST 1.9-UM DIODE LASER TECHNOLOGY PROVIDES IMPROVED OSCILLATOR RELIABILITY AND COMPACTNESS. EFFICIENT, TM:FIBER LASER PUMPED, BULK HO:YLF SINGLE-STAGE AMPLIFIER PROVIDES ENERGY SCALING TO MJ LEVEL. THE CHOICE OF A 2-UM HO-LASER MATERIAL (AS OPPOSED TO 1.5-UM ER-LASERS) ENABLES EFFICIENT POWER/ENERGY SCALING OF THE PULSED SEED OSCILLATOR OUTPUT IN HIGH-GAIN HO-AMPLIFIERS. THIS APPROACH DECREASES THE NUMBER OF AMPLIFYING STAGES, SIMPLIFIES THE OVERALL DESIGN AND PACKAGING, AND IMPROVES THE ELECTRICAL EFFICIENCY OF THE COMPLETE LASER SYSTEM AS COMPARED TO THE CURRENT TECHNOLOGY.