DIFFRACTIVE PHASE PLATES AND MICRO-OPTICS FOR BEAM DIAGNOSTICS AND CONTROL

FOR THE PLANNED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT EFFORT, SEVERAL NEW APPLICATION AREAS HAVE BEEN DEFINED THAT CAN BENEFIT THE URANIUM-ATOMIC VAPOR LASER ISOTOPE SEPARATION (U-AVLIS) PROGRAM. THESE APPLICATIONS MAKE USE OF DIFFRACTIVE OPTICAL ELEMENTS FOR ANAMORPHIC BEAM TRANSFORMATIONSAND MICROOPTICS FUNCTIONS THAT INCLUDE AGILE BEAM STEERING. IN PARTICULAR, PHASE I WILL DESIGN AND DEVELOP DIFFRACTOVE ANAMORPHIC OPTICAL SYSTEMS FOR SHAPING HIGH POWER LASER BEAMS TOMATCH PUMP BEAM AND DYE BEAM REQUIREMENTS AND GENERALIZED APERTURE REQUIREMENTS. THE SYSTEMS CAN BE DESIGNED USING CONVENTIONAL LENS DESIGN CODES IN COMBINATION WITH AN ITERATIVE PROCEDURE. IN CONJUNCTION WITH U-AVLIS RESEARCHERS CANDIADATE PARAMETERS FOR THE BEAM SHAPING ELEMENTS INCLUDING POSITIONS IN THE BEAM TRAIN WILL BE DETERMINED. ALSO, THE ABILITY TO CORRECT DETERMINISTIC BEAM ERORS IN A RETROFIT PACKAGE CAN BE VERY BENEFICIAL. PACKAGES THAT INVOLVE ARRAYS OF PRECISION MICROOPTICAL ELEMENTS WILL ALSO BE INVESTIGATED. BY USING DIRECT-WIRE METHODS FOR FABRICATING SURFACE-RELIEF DIFFRACTIVE OPTICS, UNIQUE BEAM SHAPING FUNCTIONS CAN BE IMPLEMENTED THAT WOULD BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT OR IMPOSSIBLE TO REAKUZE BY HOLOGRAPHIC METHODS. THE TWO-DIMENSIONAL DESIGNS WILL BE ANALYZED UNDER CONDITIONS IMPOSED BY THE MISSION. DIRECT-WIRE, SURFACE-RELIEF DIFFRACTIVE ELEMENTS OFFER THE POTENTIAL FOR NEW ADVANCES IN MODULAR LASER OPTICS. FOR EXAMPLE, SEVERAL DIAGNOSTIC TASKS MAY BE PERFORMED SIMULTANEOUSLY TO PROVIDE A FEEDBACK PROCESS WHERE THE BEAM PARAMETERS ARE TIGHTLY CONTROLLED.