Broadly Tunable Optical Source for Strategic Defense Applications

"The development of a novel, highly efficient, broadly tunable source of visible and near infrared light is proposed. The device is expected to have a usable emission bandwidth from 450 nm to 1000 nm making it the most broadly tunable device ever.Alternative dopants may extend the gain bandwidth far into the infrared. The demonstrated broad ultraviolet to visible absorption band of the material couples exceptionally well to broadband optical sources, such as high-efficiency Xe lamps and lasersources including frequency doubled, diode pumped Nd:YAG. The laser will have broad applications in defense and commercial markets. Defense applications include a laser source for high power HF device diagnostics and alignment (third harmonic of 2.6-2.9microns), femtosecond ultrafast lasers, a high power optically pumped oxygen iodine laser, and electro-optical countermeasures across the visible/near infrared. Frequency doubling could provide a compact, tunable source of ultraviolet radiation for covertcommunications and biological agent detection. Commercial applications include a 10 W source for the projection industry, as well as application in medical photodynamic therapy and imaging. Frequency doubling could provide a compact, tunable source ofultraviolet radiation for information storage applications. Commercial applications include a 10 W source for the projection industry, as well as application in medical photodynamic therapy and imaging