ALL SOLID STATE HIGH POWER PULSED VISIBLE LASER

A LASER-DIODE PUMPED SOLID-STATE LASER WHICH DELIVERS HIGH ENERGY PER PULSE IS NEEDED FOR SPACE COMMUNICATIONS. IN THE PROPOSED PROGRAM A FULL-POWER LABORATORY VERSION OF THE LASER WILL BE DESIGNED, BUILT, AND TESTED. THE LASER WILL BE TAILORED FOR USE IN DATA TRANSMISSION BY PULSE POSITION MODULATION AS REQUESTED BY NASA. OVER 0.1 MILLIJOULES PER PULSE AT PULSE REPETITION RATES OF UP TO 5 KILOHERTZ WILL BE PRODUCED; THIS WILL BE THE HIGHEST POWER AVAILABLE IN A DIODE-PUMPED SYSTEM AT SUCH A HIGH REPETITION RATE. DESIGN OPTIONS TO ALLOW EVEN HIGHER POWER WILL BE CONSIDERED. THE LASER WILL BE DIODE-PUMPED IN AN END-PUMPED GEOMETRY FOR HIGH EFFICIENCY, AND WILL USE THE EMERGING GENERATION OF HIGH BRIGHTNESS 3 WATT LASER DIODES. IN ADDITION TO HIGH PULSED POWER THE LASER WILL HAVE TWO MORE NOVEL FEATURES THAT WILL MAKE IT IDEAL FOR PULSE POSITION MODULATION; THESE ARE INTRINSICALLY LOW TIMING JITTER AND TIMING DELAY INDEPENDENT OF THE INTERPULSEPERIOD.