KEYWORDS: Defense and security, Laser systems engineering, Electronics, Pulsed laser operation, Laser applications, Commercial off the shelf technology, Nd:YAG lasers, System integration, Reliability, Mirrors
U.S. Defense contractors have sought to find commercially available off the shelf (COTS) sources for over a decade which can perform to the Size, Weight, Power and Cost (SWAP-C) demands of DoD applications. In conjunction, the maturation of laser processing to increase throughput and yield throughout industry has led to continuous development of increasingly compact, powerful, reliable, and affordable laser systems. Although desirable to accelerate procurement and development timelines, rarely has it been feasible to directly plug industrial lasers into DoD applications. Typical high power industrial lasers require water cooling, have rack-mounted separate drive and control electronics, and are not designed for compactness in the manner defense lasers are. Using decades of experience in designing laser systems for both defense and general industry, Quantel USA has invested in the development of an industry leading high density, high power, nanosecond pulsed laser, with fully integrated electronics and programmable laser parameters. With the 7mW/cm3 density of the conductively cooled ShrikeTM laser, the prime contractors and integrators can now order COTS products which are designed to meet their SWaP-C, across the spectrum from UV to SWIR using flexible pulse parameters at greater than 5W of power. The continuous industrial production cycle will allow defense integrators to rapidly deploy both concept demonstrators and production volumes, while maintaining reliability and performance in military environments.
Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) has proven to be a useful research tool for material analysis for decades. However, because of the amount of energy required in a few nanosecond pulse to generate a stable and reliable LIBS signal, the lasers are often large and inefficient, relegating their implementation to research facilities, factory floors, and assembly lines. Small portable LIBS systems are now possible without having to compromise on energy needs by leveraging off of advances in high-density packaging of electronics, opto-mechanics, and highly efficient laser resonator architecture. This paper explores the integration of these techniques to achieve a mJ class eye-safe LIBS laser source, while retaining a small, light-weight package suitable for handheld systems.
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