Novel Solid State Lasers for Space-Based Water Vapor DIAL, Phase I

Fibertek, Inc. proposes to develop a novel laser source designed to meet the needs of planned space-based atmospheric water-vapor (WV) differential absorption lidar (DIAL) instruments. Our approach is based on frequency doubling the output wavelength of efficient near-infrared (NIR) solid-state laser materials doped with rare earth ions that can be efficiently pumped by high-brightness semiconductor laser diodes. In our Phase I program we will also demonstrate a novel resonator, designed to reduce the pulse width and increase the extraction efficiency on low-gain, three-level laser transitions. Our proposed innovation has the potential for improving the operating efficiency of water-vapor DIAL laser transmitters by about a factor of two compared to current lasers. More »