Eyesafe diffraction-limited single-frequency 1 ns pulsewidth Er:YAG laser transmitter

Robert C. Stoneman; Ross Hartman; Eric A. Schneider; Charles G. Garvin; Sammy W. Henderson

doi:10.1117/12.716278

10 May 2007 Eyesafe diffraction-limited single-frequency 1-ns pulsewidth Er:YAG laser transmitter

Robert C. Stoneman, Ross Hartman, Eric A. Schneider, Charles G. Garvin, Sammy W. Henderson

Proceedings Volume 6552, Laser Source Technology for Defense and Security III; 65520H (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.716278
Event: Defense and Security Symposium, 2007, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

We report an eyesafe diffraction-limited single-frequency 1617 nm Er:YAG laser transmitter for coherent laser radar applications. The transmitter utilizes a master oscillator/power amplifier architecture, enabling the production of high peak power output. The pulsed oscillator is Q-switched and cavity-dumped, resulting in a 1.1 ns pulsewidth. The pulsed oscillator is injection-seeded by a commercial 1617 nm CW distributed feedback laser diode, resulting in single longitudinal mode output. The oscillator and amplifier are directly pumped into the Er:YAG laser upper state by commercial diode-pumped CW 1533 nm Yb,Er-doped fiber lasers. The injection-seeded pulsed oscillator produces an average output power of 2.2 W at 10 kHz pulse repetition frequency (PRF) with a pulsewidth of 1.1 ns (0.20 MW peak power) with a beam quality 1.1 times the diffraction limit. The oscillator has a slope efficiency of 47% in the CW mode, and a conversion efficiency of 85% from CW mode to injection-seeded pulsed mode. The power amplifier produces 20 W in the CW mode with an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 34% and a beam quality 1.1 times the diffraction limit, and 6.5 W in the pulsed mode at 10 kHz PRF with 1.1 ns pulsewidth (0.59 MW peak power).

Citation Download Citation

Robert C. Stoneman, Ross Hartman, Eric A. Schneider, Charles G. Garvin, and Sammy W. Henderson "Eyesafe diffraction-limited single-frequency 1-ns pulsewidth Er:YAG laser transmitter", Proc. SPIE 6552, Laser Source Technology for Defense and Security III, 65520H (10 May 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.716278

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