Energy Scaling of Ultrashort Pulse (USP) High Energy Fiber Lasers Through Temporal Control

Ultrashort pulse (USP) laser technology offers unique capabilities for defense, medical, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing applications. However, practical applications have been limited by the available laser hardware. Fiber-based USP lasers have the potential to overcome all of the major issues preventing USP lasers from being deployed in large volumes, but they have lacked the output peak power and pulse energy necessary for applications that require beam propagation over long distances or higher ablation rates. The peak power limitation with USP fiber lasers is a result of pulse phase distortion that ruins the pulse quality. We propose a design for a phase tailoring closed-loop control system that integrates pulse shaping and pulse quality detection with software and electronics for robust, real time optimization of pulse quality. We propose a baseline design composed of multiple components integrated with a pulse control system that will scale laser system performance a full order of magnitude. This design will be developed through the combined use of experimental data, modeling/simulation and demonstrations of key device functionality. Collectively, this Phase I effort will provide a baseline design with alternatives that will enable the demonstration of a complete prototype phase tailoring laser system in Phase II.