A High Repetition Rate, Low Voltage EO Q-Switch for Lightweight Pulsed Laser

An all-solid portable lidar system is desired as a prominent instrument for monitoring various atmospheric phenomena. Lidar return signal from targets inherently suffer from noise caused by atmospheric variations. Increasing laser energy and improving receiver photon sensitivity enable longer-range lidar capability but will not always improve the lidar system performance. The laser pulse repetition rates from most of the solid state lasers used for lidar system are in the tens Hz, which means only tens of samples are collected per second. Increasing the laser repetition rate and date collection speed can be significantly improved the return signal to noise ratio. Boston Applied Technologies proposes to develop and fabricate a novel Q-switch based upon our break through electro-optic ceramic development. The Q-switch will have high repetition rate, variable pulse width, low optical loss, low voltage, compact size and light weight, as well as the ceramic ruggedness for high power handling and long term stability. Prototype Q-switch devices will be developed and demonstrated in Phase I. The proposed Q-switch will greatly enhance and leverage NASA lidar system.