Micro Cluster Propulsion for Nanosatellite Control

Maxios Laser Corporation proposes to investigate in Phase 1 a laser diode pumped Er:YAG/ sapphire waveguide laser at 2.94 um as representative of a family of new laser systems which show potential to build more compact laser systems at high beam quality. We plan to design and start to build in Phase 1, a bench model Er:YAG waveguide laser/ amplifier chain capable of generating 10W--15W of cw output power, and to develop a detailed energetics model benchmarking the performance of this cw Er:YAG system. The benchmarked energetics code will in turn be used to generate a detailed design for further scaling Er:YAG waveguide lasers, and serve to design a TIR q-switch. The two principal features of this technology which Maxios Laser plans to exploit in Phase 1 are: (a) A cavity design compatible with using commercially available laser diode arrays as pump beams without employing focusing or coupling optics between the diode bar and the gain medium. (b) The high gain, which a waveguide configuration offers, enables a range of optical resonator designs that are conducive to producing diffraction limited output beams. After commencing construction of a laboratory cw laser in Phase 1, we will construct a compact modular q-switched laser system in Phase 2.