HIGH EFFICIENCY FREQUENCY DOUBLER

THIS PROJECT WILL CONSTRUCT AND DELIVER TO NASA A HIGHLY EFFICIENT, SECOND HARMONIC GENERATOR FOR 1.064 M FUNDAMENTAL LASER RADIATION TO MEET THE NASA REQUIREMENT FOR EFFICIENT, NON-LINEAR FRQUENCY CONVERSION AT INFRARED WAVELENGTHS. THE SECOND HARMONIC GENERATOR HAS ALREADY BEEN MODELED AS ACCURATELY AS POSSIBLE, USING PROPRIETARY NUMERICAL COMPUTER CODES THAT INCLUDE THE IMPORTANT EFFECTS OF FUNDAMENTAL DEPLETION, WAVEVECTOR MISMATCH, ANGULAR AND THERMAL DEPHASING, BACK-CONVERSION OF THE GENERATED 532-NM RADIATION, BULK ABSORPTION AND FRESNEL LOSSES, AND AMPLITUDEMODULATION OF THE INPUT PULSE. THESE METHODS OFFER A POWERFUL CAPABILITY FOR PREDICTION AND OPTIMIZATION OF SYSTEM PERFORMANCE, AND POINT THE WAY TO THE NEXT GENERATIONOF HIGHLY EFFICIENT HARMONIC CONVERTERS. A FREQUENCY DOUBLER WITH EXTRAORDINARY CONVERSION EFFICIENCY WILL BE CONSTRUCTED FOR A 1.064 M FUNDAMENTAL LASER, BASED ON A DESIGN THAT HAS BEEN OPTIMIZED USING THE COMPANY'S NEW CODES. THE FREQUENCY DOUBLER WILL USE PRECISION OPTOMECHANICAL COMPONENTS, TESTED USING A ND:YAG LASER TO DETERMINE ITS PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS, AND THEN DELIVERED TO NASA. THIS PROJECT WILL CONSTRUCT AND DELIVER TO NASA A HIGHLY EFFICIENT, SECOND HARMONIC GENERATOR FOR 1.064 M FUNDAMENTAL LASER RADIATION TO MEET THE NASA REQUIREMENT FOR EFFICIENT, NON-LINEAR FRQUENCY CONVERSION AT INFRARED WAVELENGTHS. THE SECOND HARMONIC GENERATOR HAS ALREADY BEEN MODELED AS ACCURATELY AS POSSIBLE, USING PROPRIETARY NUMERICAL COMPUTER CODES THAT INCLUDE THE IMPORTANT EFFECTS OF FUNDAMENTAL DEPLETION, WAVEVECTOR MISMATCH, ANGULAR AND THERMAL DEPHASING, BACK-CONVERSION OF THE GENERATED 532-NM RADIATION, BULK ABSORPTION AND FRESNEL LOSSES, AND AMPLITUDEMODULATION OF THE INPUT PULSE. THESE METHODS OFFER A POWERFUL CAPABILITY FOR PREDICTION AND OPTIMIZATION OF SYSTEM PERFORMANCE, AND POINT THE WAY TO THE NEXT GENERATIONOF HIGHLY EFFICIENT HARMONIC CONVERTERS. A FREQUENCY DOUBLER WITH EXTRAORDINARY CONVERSION EFFICIENCY WILL BE CONSTRUCTED FOR A 1.064 M FUNDAMENTAL LASER, BASED ON A DESIGN THAT HAS BEEN OPTIMIZED USING THE COMPANY'S NEW CODES. THE FREQUENCY DOUBLER WILL USE PRECISION OPTOMECHANICAL COMPONENTS, TESTED USING A ND:YAG LASER TO DETERMINE ITS PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS, AND THEN DELIVERED TO NASA.