Open Access Paper
12 July 2019 Diode-pumped Alexandrite laser instrument for next generation satellite-based Earth observation
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Proceedings Volume 11180, International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2018; 111800F (2019) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2535934
Event: International Conference on Space Optics - ICSO 2018, 2018, Chania, Greece
Abstract
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 M2 < 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.
© (2019) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Michael Strotkamp, Alexander Munk, Bernd Jungbluth, Hans-Dieter Hoffmann, and Josef Höffner "Diode-pumped Alexandrite laser instrument for next generation satellite-based Earth observation", Proc. SPIE 11180, International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2018, 111800F (12 July 2019); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2535934
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KEYWORDS
Alexandrite lasers

Mirrors

Crystals

Resonators

Laser crystals

Semiconductor lasers

LIDAR

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