High Performance Compact Medium-Power Long-Wave Infrared (LWIR) Laser System for Shipboard Deployment

Recent progress has been made in the development of medium-power quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) for use in airborne countermeasures, particularly in the adoption of Daylight Solutions Solaris Laser in the Armys Common Infrared Countermeasure (CIRCM) program and Forward Photonics high brightness 25 W laser. These developments to date have been targeted in the mid-wave infrared (MWIR), however with ever increasing threat sophistication there is a real need to expand the wavelength regime of these countermeasures to more diverse wavelengths, in particular the long-wave infrared (LWIR). Forward Photonics has had remarkable success using its proprietary wavelength beam combination (WBC) technology in the mid-infrared regime (45 m) with QCLs. Forward Photonics mid-wave infrared (MWIR) laser capable of producing > 25 W in CW operation by using WBC to combine the outputs of individual high power QCLs. Forward Photonics is proposing a technical approach to construct a 100 W LWIR system based on WBC of high power QCLs.