Miniature Diode-Pumped Solid State Laser for Military and Aerospace Environments

We propose to further develop and demonstrate a bench-top CW single-longitudinal and single-transverse-mode diode-pumped Yb,Er:Glass ultra-narrowband miniature laser source operating near 1550 nm for use in airborne RF/analog fiber photonic links, with a minimum of 50 mW power output with shot-noise-limited intensity noise levels at and above 1 GHz. The laser will be coupled to a single-mode polarization maintaining optical fiber. In addition we will design and analyze a hermetic laser package prototype that will operate over the minimum temperature range of 0 to 70o C with a high likelihood of operating over the stretch range of -40 to 100 oC. The package will be designed to have < 50 cm3 total volume including power and control electronics, and to maintain hermeticity and alignment under airborne vibration, thermal shock, mechanical shock, and stretch thermal cycling. Further, we propose to design and demonstrate lasers operating at 1064 and 1320 nm with similar properties. The work performed during the Phase I program will enhance and lower the risk for demonstrating optimized devices and packages that can be tested in RF photonic links and under airborne environmental conditions during Phase II.