ELECTRODELESS POTASSIUM FLASHLAMPS FOR PUMPING ND:YAG LASERS

THIS SBIR PROGRAM WILL DEVELOP A REVOLUTIONARY LOW COST ELECTRODELESS FLASHLAMP TECHNOLOGY THAT CAN EFFICIENTLY COUPLE RADIATION TO THE PUMP BANDS OF ND:YAG LASERS. THIS NEW FLASHLAMP TECHNOLOGY WILL INCREASE THE OVERALL EFFICIENCY OF ND:YAG LASERS BY A FACTOR OF 5 TO 10 OVER THE ACHIEVABLE WITH THE PRESENT XENON FLASHLAMPS, EXTEND FLASHLAMP LIFE FACTOR TO GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO 10E9 SHOTS AND REDUCE THE COST OF EFFICIENT SOLID-STATE LASER PUMP SOURCES THEREBY MAKING THESE LASERS AFFORDABLE FOR THE END USERS IN BOTH THE GOVERNMENT AND THE COMMERCIAL SECTOR. SPECIFICALLY ELECTRODELESS ALKALI VAPOR FLASHLAMP TECHNOLOGY WILL BE DEVELOPED FOR EFFICIENTLY PUMPING ND:YAG LASERS IN BOTH ROD AND SLAB CONFIGURATIONS FOR SPACE-BASED LASER RADAR AND LASER COMMUNICATIONS. LONG-LIVED, LOW COST, SPECTRALLY EFFICIENT ALKALI-VAPOR FLASHLAMPS CAN ALSO BE DEVELOPED FOR PUMPING OTHER SOLID STATE LASER MATERIALS SUCH ASE TI-SAPPHIRE AND ALEXANDRITE. IN PHASE I, A FINAL ENGINEERING DESIGN FOR ELECTRODELESS POTASSIUM FLASHLAMPS WILL BE GENERATED BY SRL COMPUTER CODES. IN THE PHASE II EFFORT, ELECTRODELESS, POTASSIUM-VAPOR FLASHLAMPS WILL BE DEVELOPED AND TESTED AND OVERALL RADIATIVE EFFICIENCY INTO THE PUMP BANDS OF ND:YAG WILL BE MEASURED.