High Energy Laser Advanced Beam Control System

To address the Air Force’s need for improved intra-cavity beam quality control and correction in high energy lasers (HELs) for directed-energy applications, Intellisense Systems, Inc. (Intellisense) proposes to develop a new High Energy Laser Advanced Beam Control (HELABEC) system to monitor the beam quality during long (~500 µs) laser pulse generation and to optimize the beam quality and the encircled power or pulse energy (“power-in-bucket”) utilizing an adaptive machine learning/artificial intelligence (ML/AI)-based algorithm to account for the development of thermally induced aberrations during each pulse generation in the pulse train. The innovation in the use of ML/AI algorithms will provide accelerated speed for calculation of the driving signals for the wavefront correction. Reduced latency between the wavefront acquisition by a fast wavefront sensor and the wavefront correction by the fast deformable tip/tilt mirror aided by the developed beam control algorithm will improve the beam’s quality during pulse generation and will allow for real-time monitoring of the status of the HEL’s optical components. In Phase I, Intellisense will demonstrate the feasibility of the HELABEC system by performing tradeoff studies and developing the system architecture, selecting the major components, developing the control algorithm, and demonstrating operation utilizing the selected components, system parameters, and typical aberrations in HELs. A Phase II plan will be developed, and endorsements will be obtained from identified transition partners. In Phase II, Intellisense plans to finalize the design of a demonstration prototype, procure components, fabricate the prototype, and demonstrate HELABEC’s operation. The results of demonstrations will establish the adequacy of the HELABEC system and minimize transition risk. In Phase II, Intellisense, working together with the Air Force and transition partner(s), will establish a transition plan to support Phase III activities.