Solid-State Laser Technology: Tunable Sources for Emerging Aerospace Applications

Tunable, solid-state laser sources are rapidly emerging technologies, providing continuous coverage of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM) from the ultra-violet through the far infrared. These sources provide obvious advantages for remote sensing experiments from space platforms by providing high electrical-to-optical conversion efficiencies, long lifetimes, reduced weight and volume. Several space and aircraft systems are currently under development for experiments to improve understanding of the chemistry and dynamics of the terrestrial atmosphere, using solid-state laser sources. 1Flight experiments are currently planned in the late 80’s and early 90's. Three laser facilities are planned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), for the Space Station, Earth Observing System (Eos). Under NASA's Civil Space Technology Initiative (CSTI), technology in tunable solid-state laser sources is being developed; initially the focus was 6000 to 1000 nm. This range of the EM spectrum is adequately covered by titanium-doped sapphire, pumped in the green by Nd:based materials.