RANGE MEASUREMENT WITH A LASER DIODE PUMPED Q-SWITCHED SOLID STATE LASER

THIS PROPOSAL IS TO STUDY AND DEVELOP LASER COMPONENTS WHICH COULD BE USED WITHIN A LASER SYSTEM FOR MEASURING THE RANGE AND RATE OF CHANGE IN RANGE (RANGE RATE) OF OBJECTS. THE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM WILL BE STUDIED AND RESEARCH WILL BE PERFORMED ON LASER-DIODE PUMPED QSWITCHED LASER OSCILLATORS AT 1.06 MICRONS BASED AROUND THE RESULTS OF THE SYSTEM EVALUATION. MINIATURE LASER DIODE PUMPED ND:YAG LASERS HAVE RECENTLY BEEN BUILT THAT ALLOW COHERENT DETECTION TO BE USED IN RANGE MEASUREMENT. THESE LASERS HAVE NOT BEEN Q-SWITCHED. QSWITCHED OPERATIONS GIVE SHORT PULSES OF LIGHT THAT ARE APPROPRIATE FOR VERY SIMPLE INCOHERENT RANGING SYSTEMS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL LEAD TO A HIGH REPETITION RATE Q-SWITCHED MINIATURE LASER THAT CAN BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH A LASER AMPLIFIER OR DIRECTLY AS A SOURCE IN LASER MEASUREMENT OF RANGE AND RANGE RATE. THE INHERENT ADVANTAGES OF THIS TYPE OF OPTICAL SOURCE INCLUDE RUGGEDNESS, LONG LIFE, SMALL SIZE AND LOW COST. PHASE I WORK WILL BE DEVOTED TO EVALUATION AND CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF THE SYSTEM AND EVALUATION AND PRELIMINARY DESIGNS OF THE MINIATURE Q-SWITCHED LASER.