High Energy Laser Diagnostics for Space Based Applications

Aculight proposes to develop a novel laser source that will enable fundamental spectroscopic studies of Hydrogen Fluoride (HF) to be performed by the Air Force, providing vital design information for the development of high power HF lasers. The source willbe a continuous wave optical parametric oscillator (OPO) pumped by a distributed feedback fiber laser. It will be designed to be capable of 500mW output in a single longitudinal mode, with 25GHz continuous frequency tuning at wavelengths between 2.3microns and 2.9 microns. The same technology can be extended to allow operation between 1.5 and 4 microns, and potential application to spectroscopy of a wide range of other gas species. The key advance in the phase II effort will be the development of anew high power fiber oscillator amplifier pump source for the OPO. The device will build upon the feasibility demonstration in phase I, where an OPO pumped by a diode laser was used to demonstrate spectroscopy of carbon dioxide at 2.7 microns. The phase IIfiber-pumped device will provide greatly increased power and stability. A packaged deliverable device will be supplied to AFRL at the end of phase II.