Title :
High-power eyesafe laser transmitter for microDoppler coherent lidar
Author :
Stoneman, Robert C. ; Henderson, Sammy W.
Author_Institution :
Coherent Technol., Inc., Lafayette, CO, USA
Abstract :
We report recent developments at Coherent Technologies, Inc. of high-power in-band-pumped solid-state lasers for microDoppler coherent laser radar applications. Lasers based on the in-band-pumped 2.1-μm Ho:YAG and 1.65-μm Er:YAG solid-state materials have unique thermal properties which make them ideal for operation over wide ranges of laser pulse repetition frequency (PRF). The extremely low thermal load in the laser medium significantly reduces thermal aberrations, allowing operation with diffraction-limited beam quality at high output power over wide ranges of PRF. The low thermal load results from the close match between the pump and output laser wavelengths in the in-band pumping scheme
Keywords :
Doppler radar; erbium; holmium; optical pumping; optical radar; solid lasers; 1.65 micron; 2.1 micron; Er:YAG; Ho:YAG; YAG:Er; YAG:Ho; YAl5O12:Er; YAl5O12:Ho; diffraction-limited beam quality; high-power eyesafe laser transmitter; high-power in-band-pumped solid-state lasers; laser pulse repetition frequency; low thermal load; microDoppler coherent laser radar; microDoppler coherent lidar; thermal aberrations; thermal properties; Laser applications; Laser excitation; Laser radar; Optical materials; Pump lasers; Radar applications; Solid lasers; Solid state circuits; Thermal loading; Transmitters;
Conference_Titel :
Lasers and Electro-Optics Society, 2001. LEOS 2001. The 14th Annual Meeting of the IEEE
Conference_Location :
San Diego, CA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7105-4
DOI :
10.1109/LEOS.2001.969315
