Nd:GGG Adhesive-Free Bonding to enable 100kW Heat Capacity Laser for Ground and Air Based Missile Defense Systems

Diode-pumped solid state lasers are increasingly designed for MDA applications where scalability to high power, reliability and compactness are required. Thermal power handling of the lasing elements is a design parameter that has been addressed byreducing their thickness. Composite slabs consisting of doped and undoped layers and components offer a design option that enables scaling up to high power by increasing the slab dimensions while maintaining a thin central lasing layer. Composite slabs,consisting of a doped layer such as Yb:YAG or Nd:YAG with undoped YAG ends, sandwiched or clad with sapphire, represent a geometry that simultaneously allows scaling to larger dimensions of thin lasing layers, guiding pump light into the YAG layer due tothe refractive index difference between YAG and sapphire, and providing mechanically strong outer sapphire layers of high thermal conductivity.The proposed Phase II effort will establish YAG/ sapphire composite slabs as new class of engineered materials for high power solid state lasers with known production parameters and laser properties. An important overall aspect of the manufacturing effortis to reduce the delivery risk when designing a weapons system relying on superior lasing behavior of novel YAG/sapphire composites as laser slabs. The work will focus on interactions between YAG and sapphire as they are relevant for for increasingmanufacturing yield, and reducing costs and delivery times to enable the laser manufacturer to more quickly complete the prototyping stage. The goal is to apply the acquired knowledge to the production of slabs designed for ABL LADAR and ABL TILL systems.