TUNABLE SINGLE-FREQUENCY ND:YAG LASERS FOR COHERENT LIDAR

SOME OF THE LASER RADARS PROPOSED FOR SPACE-BASED SENSORS ENGAGED IN SURVBEILLANCE, ACQUISITION AND TRACKING FOR THE STRATEGIC DEFENSE INITIATIVE MAY REQUIRE THE USE OF SINGLE- FREQUENCY LASERS FOR COHERENT, HETERODYNE DETECTION OF RETURN SIGNALS. IN SOME SENSOR CONFIGURATIONS THE RELATIVE VELOCITIES BETWEEN SOURCE AND TARGET MAY VARY WIDELY, RE- QUIRING WIDEBAND TUNABILITY OF THE LOCAL OSCILLATOR. THIS PROPOSAL CONCERNS THE FIRST PHASE OF AN EFFORT TO ADVANCE THE TECHNOLOGY OF TUNABLE, SINGLE-FREQUENCY ND: YAG LASERS, A STEP TOWARDS MAKING THE ND: YAG LASER SUITABLE FOR SPACE- BASED COHERENT LIDARS. THE WORK WOULD CONCENTRATE ON THE DE-SIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF DIODE-LASER- PUMPED, CW, LOW-POWER LASERS WITH SINGLE-FREQUENCY OUTPUT TUNABLE OVER A 30 GHZ RANGE.