Integrated Laser Beam Control

ABSTRACT: As High Energy Laser (HEL) systems move toward integration in operational systems, the importance of developing compact and rugged beam control system technology increases. The conventional approach for integration of beam clean-up and turbulence pre-compensation subsystems uses a stove-piped approach that leads to bulky, complex, and difficult to integrate systems. Nutronics has developed the Integrate Laser Beam Control (ILBC) approach which offers significant reductions in size, weight, power, and cost of the beam control system. The ILBC offers an innovative approach that includes beam clean-up and turbulence compensation functions in a low power bem path. Nutronics’ Phase I effort produced numerous innovations and established feasibility of the ILBC beam control method, demonstrating benefit to multiple military and commercial applications. Nutronics proposes a Phase II effort to deliver a breadboard ILBC Demonstration system, and evaluate key risk areas associated with both military and commercial applications. Nutronics has developed an innovative approach for the ILBC, including use of a highly sensitive wavefront sensor, and integration of the ILBC Demonstration system from compact and modular stand-alone, identical Adaptive Optical systems. The ILBC Real Time Controller will have “military class” capability with low latency FPGA based processing housed in a standard desktop PC. BENEFIT: The proposed effort has numerous potential benefits and commercial applications, including (but not limited to): Adaptive Optics for Imaging, Adaptive Optics for Directed Energy and Beam Projection, Adaptive Optics for laser radar and laser vibrometry, Adaptive Optics for beam cleanup and general laboratory use, Pre-compensation for aberrations in laser gain medium and turbulence