Development of a Novel Optical Amplifier for Airborne Applications

Optical amplifiers that are equipped on teh airborne platform must be compact, highly efficient, and stable for reliable autonomous operations in an extreme environment. Development of a solid state laser amplifier system based on a diode pubped laser crystal and a state-of-the-art technology for signal coupling optics is proposed to satisfy the requirements of the airborne optical communications. A novel optical pump geometry which is a modified version of the tightly folded resonator concept is proposed to increase the smplifier efficiency and to alleviate thermo-mechanical problems associated with diode pumping; this will allow a good stability, low noise, and a higher output power than what is available from a fiber amplifier. The unique design configuration also allows an intrinsically stable TEMOO mode amplifier beam profile, which can be exploited for an efficient output fiber coupling. Availability of the alser crystals and use of modular design concept will provide wide spectral coverge which includes 850, 1300, and 1500 nanometer. A breadboard amplifier system will be constructed and tested in Phase I to obtain design data for a prototype Phase II system.