Compact, Lightweight, Femtosecond Laser for LIBS

Q-Peak proposes to develop a compact, fieldable, high-power, solid state, diode-pumped, Yb-doped femtosecond laser system for Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS). Our device will produce 100-femtosecond pulses at 1050 nm, with a pulse energy as high as 1 mJ, at pulse rates in the 250-1000 Hz range. Recent research has shown that LIBS measurements can benefit from the use of such femtosecond laser sources compared to the older technology of nanosecond sources. However, present femtosecond lasers are large, laboratory-based devices unsuited for field-measurement systems. The Phase I program showed system feasibility through the demonstration of a passively mode-locked, Yb-doped laser and a Q-switched laser that generated 2 mJ per pulse at a 250-Hz rate. Our Phase II effort will focus on the development and construction of a complete oscillator-regenerative amplifier laser system, configured in a compact, robust, modular, lightweight package suited for field applications.