ELECTRODLESS FLASHLAMPS FOR PUMPING SOLID STATE LASERS

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSED EFFORT IS TO DEVELOP ADVANCED FLASHLAMP TECHNOLOGY WHICH CAN BE USED TO 1) INCREASE THEOVERALL EFFICIENCY OF SOLID-STATE LASERS BY A FACTOR OF 5 TO 10 OVER THAT ACHIEVABLE WITH CONVENTIONAL XENON FLASHLAMPS, 2) EXTEND FLASHLAMP LIFE TO 10 SHOTS; AND 3) REDUCE THE COST OF EFFICIENT SOLID-STATELASER PUMP SOURCES TO PROVIDE AN AFFORDABLE CAPITAL COST FOR THE OVERALL LASER SYSTEM. SPECIFICALLY, AN ADVANCED FLASHLAMP TECHNOLOGY WILL BE DEVELOPED FOR EFFICIENTLY PUMPING THE CR:LISRA1F LASER WHOSE OUTPUTFREQUENCY CAN BE EFFICIENTLY DOUBLED INTO THE LUBE REGION OF THE SPECTRUM AND MADE TO MATCH NARROW BAND ATOMIC RESONANCE FILTERS FOR SUBMARINE LASER COMMUNICATIONS. IN THE PHASE I EFFORT, A FINAL ENGINEERING DESIGN FOR THESE ADVANCED FLASHLAMPS WILL BE DEVELOPED BASED ON EXTENSIVE MODELING OF THE RADIATIVE AND DISCHARGE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FLASHLAMPS USING EXISTING SRL COMPUTER CODES. IN THE PHASE II EFFORT, SEVERAL ADVANCED FLASHLAMPS WILL BE TESTED AND OVERALL RADIATIVE EFFICIENCY INTO THE PUMP BANDS OF CR:LISRA1F WILL BE MEASURED. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - EFFICIENT, RELIABLE SOLID STATE LASERS WHICH CAN BE TUNED IN THE RANGE OF 0.8 TO 1.0 UM HAVE A BROAD SPECTRUM OF MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS. MILITARY APPLICATIONS INCLUDE FREQUENCY-DOUBLED OPERATION OF THE LASER IN THE BLUE GREEN REGION OF THE SPECTRUM FOR UNDERWATER DETECTION AND COMMUNICATIONAPPLICATIONS. COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS INCLUDE LASER SURGERY (LASER LITHOTRIPSY, RADIAL KEROTOMY, LASER ANGIOPLASTY), LASER METALWORKING AND SUBMICRON X-RAY LITHOGRAPHY.