FULAS: high energy laser source for future LIDAR applications

Hahn, Sven; Bode, M.; Luttmann, J.; Hoffmann, D. H. H.

doi:10.1117/12.2536114

Cited by 18 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…For the FULAS (Future Laser System) project (see [21]) a complete laser is integrated based on these components. This laser comprises a single-longitudinal mode oscillator and one InnoSlab amplifier stage and successfully completed a multi-week operational (+10 °C to +30 °C) and non-operational (-30 °C to +50 °C) test in a thermal vacuum chamber at Airbus Defence & Space.…”

Section: Optomechanical Components For Spaceborne Lasers At Iltmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diode-pumped Alexandrite laser instrument for next generation satellite-based Earth observation

Strotkamp

Munk

Jungbluth

et al. 2019

International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2018

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In this work the first diode-pumped Alexandrite ring laser in Q-switched single-longitudinal mode (SLM) operation is presented. A carefully designed and complex ring resonator with several functional components is combined with an innovative pumping scheme with high-power red laser diodes.The spectral and energetic suitability of a first laser was demonstrated in hundreds of operating hours and, with a novel mobile lidar system, by the first measurements in the atmosphere by means of a diode-pumped Alexandrite laser, yielding data from the stratosphere to the mesosphere.An improved laser yields a pulse energy of 1.7 mJ at a repetition rate of 500 Hz with an excellent beam quality of M 2 < 1.1. By seeding the resonator with a narrow-band diode laser, SLM operation with a linewidth below 4 MHz is achieved. The electro-optical efficiency of 2 % is the highest archived for all Alexandrite lasers in SLM operation and reasonable for space-operation.The performance analysis as well as benchmarking with the space-qualified mounting technology point out the TRL and the remaining effort of development of the technology. INTRODUCTIONUnderstanding temperature distributions and wind fields in the atmosphere at altitudes between 80 and 110 km, i.e. the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT), is crucial for performing numerical simulations of the Earth's climate. The effects of gravity waves on the global wind system and atmospheric dynamics are hardly understood and item of research of space agencies and ground-based observations [1-6]. One well-established approach to provide such data is to measure the Doppler-broadened and -shifted resonance line of metal atoms, e.g. potassium (770 nm or 772 nm) [6,7], iron (386 nm) [8,9] and sodium (589 nm) [10][11][12], by means of a Doppler lidar.While localized measurements have been performed over the last 20 years from the ground and revealed fundamental deviations from the predicted conditions, there is no coverage of global scale by lidar. The development of a spaceborne resonance lidar instrument is deferred by the lack of laser sources at the demanded wavelengths that are suitable for spaceborne operation.The currently used Alexandrite (Cr 3+ :BeAl2O4) lasers with their broad tunability (700-800 nm) [13] are well suited for the generation of several interesting wavelengths, either operating at their fundamental wavelength or intra-cavity frequency-doubled. The flashlamp-pumped Alexandrite ring lasers operating in Q-switched single-longitudinal mode (SLM) operation are commonly used as beam sources in resonance potassium and iron resonance lidar systems [6][7][8][9].However the usage of flashlamps as pump source makes them unsuitable for spaceborne operation, due to the poor efficiency and limited lifetime. One hopeful approach to overcome these drawbacks is by replacing the flashlamps with diode lasers [14,15]. Recently, new basic investigations in the field of diode-pumped Alexandrite lasers have been conducted with focus on altimetry lidar and vegetation monitoring (red-edge) [...

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Section: Optomechanical Components For Spaceborne Lasers At Iltmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diode-pumped Alexandrite laser instrument for next generation satellite-based Earth observation

Strotkamp

Munk

Jungbluth

et al. 2019

International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2018

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“…Within the housing the pressure will be around 1000 mbar and dry air will be used as gas. The design of the housing was successfully tested on the FULAS laser [4]. The optical bench consists of a baseplate with optical elements on both sides (see Figure 1).…”

Section: Laso Concept 21 System Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The functional design is shown in Figure 3 with color coding for different sections. The active medium is Nd:YAG and as in the FULAS laser the oscillator crystal is pumped from both sides with diodes emitting at 808 nm that are mounted in two fiber-coupled pump modules [4]. The pump section is marked in purple.…”

Section: Oscillatormentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical and optomechanical design of the MERLIN laser optical bench

Livrozet

Gronloh

Faidel

et al. 2021

International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2020

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For the satellite-based methane lidar instrument MERLIN a reliable laser source is needed that emits laser pulses at two wavelengths of around 1645 nm to measure the methane concentration of earth's atmosphere with an Integrated Path Differential Absorption LIDAR (IPDA). To generate those pulses, the laser (LASO) consists of a seeded, actively qswitched, diode pumped Nd:YAG master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) and a subsequent seeded and frequencycontrolled optical parametric oscillator (OPO).Due to the passive thermal control of the instrument the laser has to withstand a large non-operational and operational temperature range and also high mechanical loads while at the same time a compact envelope is required. Together with the demanding requirements on the laser performance a very robust optical design is needed.To meet those requirements, Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT) uses optomechanical mounts that were developed in a previous project and show very low tilting over a large operational temperature range, even after nonoperational temperature cycling and applying mechanical loads. The mounts are soldered and free of organic substances as the LASO is enclosed in a pressurized housing (LASH). Any outgassing could lead to a decay or damage of the optics and thus a failure of the laser.During the development of the optomechanical mounts many tests were performed to quantify the statistical behavior under mechanical and thermal loads. Based on those results and additional mechanical simulations, Monte-Carlo-Analyses have been performed to analyze the performance of the laser and to verify the fulfilment of the requirements.

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“…Also the electrical harness is built of soldered and screwed metal and ceramic parts without any plastics. These designs and morelike fiber coupled diode modules for oscillator crystal pumping and diode pumped InnoSlab amplifier -are inherited from the technology demonstrator FULAS [5] and are currently qualified for use in the LASO FM.…”

Section: Laser Optical Benchsubcontracted To Fraunhofer Institut For mentioning

confidence: 99%

MERLIN: overview of the design status of the lidar Instrument

Wührer

Kuhl

Lucarelli

et al. 2019

International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2018

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The Methane Remote Sensing LIDAR Mission (MERLIN) is a joint French-German cooperation on the development, launch and operation of a climate monitoring satellite, executed by the French Space Agency CNES and the German DLR Space Administration. It is focused on global measurements of the spatial and temporal gradients of atmospheric Methane (CH4) with a precision and accuracy sufficient to constrain Methane fluxes significantly better than with the current observation network.Merlin is a LIDAR Instrument using the IPDA principle. This instrument principle relies on the different absorption of the laser signal by atmospheric Methane at two laser wavelengthson-line and off-line -both around 1.645 μm, reflected by the Earth surface or by cloud tops. The attenuation is strong at the on-line wavelength; the off-line "reference" wavelength is selected to be only marginally affected by Methane absorption. Being an active instrument with its own light source, the MERLIN LIDAR Instrument does not have to rely on sun illumination of the observed areas and can therefore continuously operate over the orbit.Airbus DS GmbH was selected by the German DLR Space Administration as the industrial Prime Contractor for the Mission Phase C/D, to build the MERLIN Payload, which is the first realization of such an instrument for space in Europe.This presentation will concentrate on the Architecture and the Design of the MERLIN Payload developed during the ongoing Mission Phase C. Further details of the instrument development status will be shown by an overview of the current hardware and design status of the major subsystems.

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FULAS: high energy laser source for future LIDAR applications

Cited by 18 publications

References 4 publications

Diode-pumped Alexandrite laser instrument for next generation satellite-based Earth observation

Diode-pumped Alexandrite laser instrument for next generation satellite-based Earth observation

Optical and optomechanical design of the MERLIN laser optical bench

MERLIN: overview of the design status of the lidar Instrument

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