Scaling CW Electron Beam Pumped Rare Gas Lasers to Ultra-High Average Power

Book excerpt: The overall objective of this program is to demonstrate the feasibility of efficiently scaling Ar:Xe lasers to ultra-high average power levels for strategic defense applications. The contractor has experimentally verified that the Ar:Xe laser system, which operates at near-IR wavelengths (1.73 micrometers), can achieve laser efficiencies of 4% with electron beam pumping at pump power densities as low as 10 watts/cc. This new efficient electron beam pumping regime promises cost-effective scaling of Ar:Xe laser systems to multi-megawatt average power levels while maintaining high electrical efficiency (4-6%) and near-diffraction-limited beam quality. In the Phase II effort, detailed experiments will be performed on an electron beam pumped Ar:Xe laser with a closed cycle flow loop at pump power densities of 10-20 W/cc. The objective of these experiments is to validate methods for correction and control of the optical distortions resulting from experiments is to validate methods for correction and control of the optical distortions resulting from CW pumping. Control of thermal distortions will be achieved by optimally contouring the spatial profile of electron beam power deposition in the active volume. With the optimal deposition profile, higher order optical distortions will be negligible and a diffraction limited beam will be obtained after tilt and focus corrections are made. These corrections can be made by a simple local loop by an adaptive optics system in the beam train.