2-micron High-Average Power
Pulsed Laser
Aqwest is a leading developer of high-average power 2-micron lasers for remote sensing and industrial applications. Aqwest 2-micron lasers deliver high-pulse energies (up to about 0.5 J) with pulse lengths from nanosecond to microsecond range and are wavelength tunable over >200 nm.
Industrial applications include laser material processing of automotive head/tail lights, which are made of plastics that are transparent in the visible range and at 1 micron, but are opaque in the vicinity of the 2-micron wavelength. The 2-micron wavelength is also 80-times eye-safer for eye retina than the 1-micron lasers widely used in laser material processing. This makes the 2-micron lasers more suitable for applications where strict radiation containment and/or eye protection are impossible, exceedingly costly, or impractical.
For remote sensing, the Aqwest 2-micron lasers can be configured as lidar transmitters for wind profiling, turbulence sensint, and CO2 measurement, for a range of applications. Wind profiling improves the efficacy of wind farms by providing anticipatory feed-forward control for adjusting turbine yaw angle, blade pitch, and wake steerage to adapt to wind changes. Feed-forward control also allows for preemptive protection of turbines by commanding feathering of turbine blades in advance of potentially sever turbulence and/or wind shears.
Higher pulse energies generated by Aqwest 2-micron lasers offer earlier data and warming signal than currently used devices. Air turbulence and wind-shear warning are also important for aircraft in flight. The remote sensing lidar may be on the aircraft or it may be ground-based installation for surveillance of airspace near an airport.
This work received support from the U.S. Navy, U.S. DOE, and NASA.
References
- J. Vetrovec, D. A. Copeland, A. S. Litt, and E. Briscoe, “Wide-bandwidth ceramic Tm:Lu2O3 amplifier,” Proc. SPIE 9834, 2016
- J. Vetrovec, D. M. Filgas, C. A. Smith, D. A. Copeland, .A. S. Litt, E. Briscoe, and E. Schirmer, “2-Micron lasing in Tm:Lu2O3 ceramic: initial operation,” SPIE vol. 10511, 2018
- D. Filgas, J. Vetrovec, D. Copeland, C. Smith, and E. Briscoe, ” Spectral Gain and 2-Micron Lasing in Tm:Lu2O3 Ceramic under Intense Pumping,” SPIE vol. 10896-4, February 2019
- D. Filgas, J. Vetrovec, D. Copeland, and C. Smith, “Parametric Testing of a 2-Micron Tm:Lu2O3 Laser,” Proc. SPIE vol. 11259, February 2020
