A RUGGED BLUE LASER SOURCE FOR VAPOR PROCESS CONTROL

A TUNABLE BLUE LASER SOURCE IS NEEDED TO IMPROVE CONTROL OF VAPOR DENSITY IN INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES. AN EXAMPLE IN THE ENERGY INDUSTRY IS THE AVLIS URANIUM ISOTOPE SEPARATION PLANT NOW BEING DEVELOPED AT THE LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY. A DIODE LASER-BASED SOURCE HAS STRONG ADVANTAGES IN BOTH COST AND SIZE, BUT ITS INSTABILITY MAKES THE DIODE LASER DIFFICULT TO MANAGE. IN PREVIOUS WORK WITH DIODE LASERS, A PROPRIETARY METHOD FOR COMPRESSING THE PERFORMANCE FLUCTUATIONS HAS BEEN DEVELOPED. THIS ADVANCE SHOULD ELIMINATE THE INSTABILITY OF THE DOUBLE DIODE PLATFORM, MAKING IT AVAILABLE FOR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION IN A SUITABLY RUGGED FORM. IN PHASE I OF THIS PROJECT, A SYSTEM IS BEING BUILT BY IMPLEMENTING THIS APPROACH AND DEMONSTRATING THE IMPROVED PERFORMANCE. IN PHASE II, A PROTOTYPE SYSTEM WILL BE INSTALLED ON THE AVLIS PLANT FOR TESTING IN A REAL APPLICATIONS ENVIRONMENT.