EFFICIENT SLAB LASERS

THE OFFERORS PROPOSE TO EFFECTIVELY INTEGRATE THE USSR TECHNOLOGY FOR MULTIPASS AMPLIFIERS WITH USA TECHNOLOGY FOR HIGH AVERAGE ENERGY LOADING AND STRONG COOLING, TO PRODUCE ADVANCED EFFICIENT SLAB LASER DESIGNS FOR 1 KILOWATT OUTPUT DOWER OPERATION IN BOTH HIGH REP RATE Q-SWITCHED AND CW MODES. SLAB LASER DESIGNS HAVE INTRINSIC ADVANTAGE OVER ROD LASER DESIGNS AND CAN BE SCALED FOR HIGH POWER OUTPUTS WITH GOOD BEAM QUALITY. HOWEVER, AMPLIFIED STIMULATED EMISSIONS (ASE) AND PARASITIC OSCILLATIONS (PO) LIMIT EFFICIENT ENERGY EXTRACTION. WE INTRODUCE THE MULTIPASS PROCESS, AS DEVELOPED BY THE SOVIETS, TO STRIP ALL AVAILABLE GAIN FROM THE SYSTEM - THE NET EFFECT BEING AN EFFICIENT SLAB LASER WHICH HAS NEAR-DIFFRACTIONLIMIT OUTPUT AND A RESIDUAL GAIN OF UNITY. THUS, THERE IS NO GAIN TO FEED THE UNDESIRABLE ASE AND PO CHANNELS. BOTH 1 KILOWATT DESIGNS, PREPARED UNDER PHASE I EFFORT, WILL INCLUDE PRELIMINARY TIME AND COST ANALYSIS FOR FACILITATING PHASE II CONSTRUCTION AND DEMONSTRATION. OUR INTENT IS TO HAVE A MARKETABLE PRODUCT READY FOR COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT, AT OUTPUT POWERS BETWEEN 500 WATTS AND 5 KILOWATTS, DURING PHASE III. OUR PRIMARY COMMERCIAL OBJECTIVE IS TO SIGNIFICANTLY PENETRATE THE WORLD-WIDE INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMER BASE OF 20,000 WORKSTATIONS INVOLVED IN THE LASER PROCESSING OF BOTH ADVANCED AND STANDARD MATERIALS (METALS, COMPOSITES, ETC.). COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS, MANY PAIRED WITH FIBER OPTIC BEAM DELIVERY, INVOLVE BOTH THE ADVANCED PROCESSING OF BOTH STANDARD AND ADVANCED MATERIALS AS WELL AS THE DELIVERY OF ENERGY AND INFORMATION AND THE PUMPING OF OTHER LASER DEVICES. OUR PRIMARY COMMERCIAL OBJECTIVE IS TO SIGNIFICANTLY PENETRATE THE WORLD-WIDE INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMER BASE OF 20,000 WORKSTATIONS INVOLVED IN THE LASER PROCESSING OF MATERIALS (METALS, COMPOSITES, ETC.).