Development Of CO2 Laser Amplifiers For Radar Applications

M. J. Yoder; D. G. Youmans; J. P. Reilly

doi:10.1117/12.937275

30 January 1987 Development Of CO2 Laser Amplifiers For Radar Applications

M. J. Yoder, D. G. Youmans, J. P. Reilly

Proceedings Volume 0709, Laser Research and Development in the Northeast; (1987) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.937275
Event: Cambridge Symposium-Fiber/LASE '86, 1986, Cambridge, MA, United States

Abstract

Laser radar oscillators are necessarily low output power devices since (1) short optical cavities and low pressure operating conditions are required for minimum fluctuations, (2) short laser cavities and low pressures are required for single frequency, single longitudinal mode operation, and (3) small optical beam cross-sections are required for single transverse mode operation. All of these combined restrictions severely limit the attainable output power and stability of oscillators. Amplifiers, on the other hand, have no such restrictions in discharge length, gas pressure or optical cross-section. With regard to frequency stability, amplifiers are more forgiving than oscillators since only the time variation of the electron and gas density gradients affects the frequency stability. TETIi oscillator-amplifier configurations are used whenever moderate to high power (greater than about 50 watts) applications are desired. In this paper the design of amplifiers for CO, laser radar applications will be presented. This discussion will examine the issues of discharge technique selection, gain requirements, frequency stability requirements/achievability, optical folding schemes to obtain high gain-length products, backward wave feed-back minimization/suppression, and flow requirements/achievability for high average power operation. These are some of the issues that must be considered in the design of moderate power CW and pulsed laser radar amplifiers for short and long range applications.

Citation Download Citation

M. J. Yoder, D. G. Youmans, and J. P. Reilly "Development Of CO2 Laser Amplifiers For Radar Applications", Proc. SPIE 0709, Laser Research and Development in the Northeast, (30 January 1987); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.937275

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KEYWORDS

Optical amplifiers

Oscillators

Laser development

Acoustics

LIDAR

Laser amplifiers

Optical isolators

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