Pulse laser imaging amplifier for advanced ladar systems

Anatoliy Khizhnyak; Vladimir Markov; Ivan Tomov; David Murrell

doi:10.1117/12.2224304

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13 May 2016 Pulse laser imaging amplifier for advanced ladar systems

Anatoliy Khizhnyak, Vladimir Markov, Ivan Tomov, David Murrell

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Proceedings Volume 9832, Laser Radar Technology and Applications XXI; 98320P (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2224304
Event: SPIE Defense + Security, 2016, Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Abstract

Security measures sometimes require persistent surveillance of government, military and public areas Borders, bridges, sport arenas, airports and others are often surveilled with low-cost cameras. Their low-light performance can be enhanced with laser illuminators; however various operational scenarios may require a low-intensity laser illumination with the object-scattered light intensity lower than the sensitivity of the Ladar image detector. This paper discusses a novel type of high-gain optical image amplifier. The approach enables time-synchronization of the incoming and amplifying signals with accuracy ≤ 1 ns. The technique allows the incoming signal to be amplified without the need to match the input spectrum to the cavity modes. Instead, the incoming signal is accepted within the spectral band of the amplifier. We have gauged experimentally the performance of the amplifier with a 40 dB gain and an angle of view 20 mrad.

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Anatoliy Khizhnyak, Vladimir Markov, Ivan Tomov, and David Murrell "Pulse laser imaging amplifier for advanced ladar systems", Proc. SPIE 9832, Laser Radar Technology and Applications XXI, 98320P (13 May 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2224304

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