Titanium P/M Encapsulation of Ceramic With Hydrostatic Cushion for Ballistic Armor Applications

Not Available Rapidly tunable lasers are essential for diffractive beam steering and for the detection of clandestine chemical emissions, chemical and biological warfare agents as well as concealed combustion engines or rocket propellents from missiles. The success of operation of such detection systems depends critically on the rapid tunability and performance of the proposed laser. We will develop a high repetition rate (~1KHz), frequency agile (3-¿m) , rapidly tunable (few KHz), 10mJ/pulse quasi phase-matched optical parametric oscillator (OPO), pumped by a diode pumped Yb: YAG tunable laser. Compactness and broad IR tuning range are obrained by utilizing a fixed PPRTA OPO and tuning the pump wavelength. Rapid tuning in MWIR (3-5-¿m) is achieved through rapid tuning of Yb:YAG laser. In the proposed Yb:YAG laser a non-mechanical tuner based on a nonlinear optical crystal is used to obtain high speed tuning without compromising its ruggedness or performance. Employing all solid state technology from the pumping source to frequency tuner to frequency converter the proposed system is truly a versatile laser which can meet the rigor of a battle field or commercial operations. In Phase I, we will demonstrate high energy, rapid tuning, high repetition rate operations. In Phase I, we will demonstrate high energy, rapid tuning, high repetition rate operation of a MWIR OPO pumped by a Yb: YAG laser.