Based on our proprietary award-winning fiber laser technology, AdValue Photonics proposes an enabling fiber amplifier technology for the proposed NASA’s next-generation topographic LiDAR mapping applications. This technology can easily be extended from the near-infrared spectral region to the visible green region via nonlinear frequency doubling, benefitting future hydrographic LiDAR mapping applications. In the Phase I program, we have preliminarily demonstrated the feasibility of such a high-peak-power Yb-doped fiber amplifier, and developed a preliminary mechanical design to package the amplifier system with two different cooling mechanisms. In the Phase II program, we will experimentally demonstrate this enabling technology by developing a compact deliverable prototype laser/amplifier unit that can generate 100s of kW peak power and >150W average power of nearly transform-limited spectral linewidth. By the end of the Phase II program, a prototype amplifier unit will be delivered to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for evaluation test.
This high-peak-power high-energy narrow-linewidth, pulsed fiber laser/amplifier provides an enabling technology for the proposed NASA’s next generation laser altimeter, which can be an innovative component in NASA’s next-generation LiDAR systems for measurements of the atmosphere and gas contents of the Earth, Mars, the Moon, and other planetary bodies. Furthermore, our unique fiber laser technology enables an all-fiber monolithic system design, potentially benefitting to NASA’s air-borne and space-borne applications.
This proposed fiber laser can be used for laser material processing and commercial LiDAR for wind energy industry and topographic mapping, and military application for target identification. The high peak power and high energy of pulsed lasers in an all-fiber monolithic platform could open new opportunities in many industrial, scientific, and military applications.