High Performance Compact Medium-Power Long-Wave Infrared (LWIR) Laser System for Shipboard Deployment

In this proposal, a broadband laser system is explored which has the potential to deliver high power over a broad portion of the long wavelength infrared (LWIR) spectral range. The system is composed of multiple quantum cascade laser modules which are spectrally combined into a single output beam. In order to simplify system construction, the system is designed to operate with a small number of active elements engineered for high atmospheric transmission. This is made possible by the use of already demonstrated high efficiency quantum cascade wafer designs and a new, on-chip phase-locking architecture to significantly scale the output power per module. The proposed effort will build on proof-of-concept demonstrations in both power scaling and beam combining technologies to realize a full scale, multispectral system prototype.