HIGH POWER LASER AMPLIFIER CHAIN TECHNIQUES.
Abstract
This report describes work directed toward the development of an optical radar transmitter using the master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) concept. The transmitter employed a continuous wave YAG:Nd3+ oscillator operating at room temperature and a chain of pulsed amplifier rods of neodymium-doped glass. Single-pass gain of 15 to 17 db per stage was achieved. Because a laser amplifies equally well in both directions, stability of the amplifier chain has received careful consideration. Instability due to backscattered radiation alone was dealt with theoreticallly and experimental observations of it are reported. Non-reciprocal isolators and circulators having 22 to 28 db of isolation were built and successfully used in amplifier chains on this contract. A major question arising out of the use of glass amplifiers with crystal oscillators is whether the amplifiers, with their very broad fluorescence linewidth can utilize a large fraction of their stored energy in amplifying the narrow-band oscillator signal. This problem was attacked both theoretically and experimentally, with very encouraging initial results. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0487544
Entities
People
- George L. Clark
Organizations
- Xerox