We evaluate the feasibility of implementing a polarization diverse scheme to facilitate beacon based phase locking of a long baseline laser phased array.
Directed energy (DE) systems composed of large numbers of combined laser beams have been proposed for a number of applications, including illumination of photovoltaic cells on the moon and spacecraft propulsion. It is important to understand how the design parameters of these systems and perturbations such as misalignment and phase error affect their performance. It is also useful to evaluate the effects of phase and amplitude screens. This paper describes the development of a tool that can simulate the beam profile of over ten billion coherently combined laser elements at astronomical distances with user set locations, mode fields, amplitudes, phases, and pointing vectors.
Directed energy propulsion for interstellar travel has been proposed as an ideal method for reaching appreciable speeds relative to the speed of light: 0.2c. However, the amount of energy required necessitates a large aperture, on the order of kilometers, while mitigation of atmospheric perturbations requires a discretization of the aperture into many individual laser elements. The use of fiber lasers for these elements obligates mode-matching the fiber to the desired 10 cm aperture for a collimated beam. Various collimation systems were designed and compared. A 3-lens system with one achromat and two aspheric lenses, with two of the lenses used as a Keplerian telescope to achieve a system-shortening effect was analyzed. A similar system made with a plano-convex lens replacing the large-aperture aspheric lens with two additional compensating lenses was compared. A single diffractive optic operating at F/8 was likewise considered. The optical performance of these systems was compared, as was the cost-effectiveness. Scalability to millions of elements was required, so cost-per-system was a crucial consideration factor. Possible manufacturing processes for a diffractive system were investigated, and stamping processes for replication were analyzed to determine the possibility of replication of such an optic reliably, cheaply, and with acceptable results.
Effective transfer of beamed optical energy to a spacecraft requires that the source have a sufficiently small angular divergence to contain the beam within the area of the spacecraft collector. Such a directed energy system could be achieved by coherently combining many small optical sources distributed throughout a large-scale array. The fundamental unit of such a system is a master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) which consists of a frequency stabilized laser source distributed to amplifier trees in the array. A fundamental challenge in long baseline coherent beam combination is that each source be combined with sub-wavelength accuracy over the entire array. In addition to perturbations due to mechanical and atmospheric disturbances, phase noise introduced by the amplifiers and the seed distribution network must also be accounted for in order to achieve the necessary accuracy. This work investigates the excess phase noise introduced by the amplifier stages and fiber optic links. Locking schemes that could be used to synchronize such an array are presented. The test bed used to interrogate phase noise is based on an all polarization maintaining fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI), controlled by an FPGA based digital quadrature detection at a sampling rate of 1 MS/s yielding direct measurement of amplitude and phase with servo control for phase locking. Results for various MOPA and fiber link configurations based on Yb-doped fiber amplifiers operating at 1064 nm and kilometer scale link lengths are presented.
We report on the development of a 2.74-mJ, ~4.2 ps, ~258 nm deep-ultraviolet (DUV) source at 1 kHz based on frequency quadrupling of ~32 mJ, 8.4 ps, ~1030 nm near-infrared (NIR) laser pulses with an excellent beam profile, generated from a diode-pumped, ultrafast hybrid Yb-doped chirped-pulse amplification laser system. We have used a two-stage second harmonic generation scheme at LBO (NIR-to-green) and BBO crystals (green-to-DUV), respectively, to achieve the fourth-harmonic generation (FHG). The NIR-to-DUV conversion efficiency of ~10% in the FHG is obtained. The peak power of the produced DUV laser pulses is as high as 0.56 GW. The beam profiles at near-field and far-field are found to be excellent and the M2 value is measured as ~2.6. We also present the systematic parameter study on the optimization of DUV generation. To our best knowledge, this is the most energetic DUV generation from a diodepumped solid-state laser at kHz repetition rates.
Asteroids and comets that cross Earth’s orbit pose a credible risk of impact, with potentially severe disturbances to Earth and society. We propose an orbital planetary defense system capable of heating the surface of potentially hazardous objects to the vaporization point as a feasible approach to impact risk mitigation. We call the system DE-STAR, for Directed Energy System for Targeting of Asteroids and exploRation. The DE-STAR is a modular-phased array of kilowatt class lasers powered by photovoltaic’s. Modular design allows for incremental development, minimizing risk, and allowing for technological codevelopment. An orbiting structure would be developed in stages. The main objective of the DE-STAR is to use focused directed energy to raise the surface spot temperature to ∼3000 K, sufficient to vaporize all known substances. Ejection of evaporated material creates a large reaction force that would alter an asteroid’s orbit. The baseline system is a DE-STAR 3 or 4 (1- to 10-km array) depending on the degree of protection desired. A DE-STAR 4 allows initial engagement beyond 1 AU with a spot temperature sufficient to completely evaporate up to 500-m diameter asteroids in 1 year. Small objects can be diverted with a DE-STAR 2 (100 m) while space debris is vaporized with a DE-STAR 1 (10 m).
Asteroids and comets that cross Earth’s orbit pose a credible risk of impact, with potentially severe disturbances to Earth and society. Numerous risk mitigation strategies have been described, most involving dedicated missions to a threatening object. We propose an orbital planetary defense system capable of heating the surface of potentially hazardous objects to the vaporization point as a feasible approach to impact risk mitigation. We call the system DE-STAR for Directed Energy System for Targeting of Asteroids and exploRation. DE-STAR is a modular phased array of kilowatt class lasers powered by photovoltaic's. Modular design allows for incremental development, test, and initial deployment, lowering cost, minimizing risk, and allowing for technological co-development, leading eventually to an orbiting structure that would be developed in stages with both technological and target milestones. The main objective of DE-STAR is to use the focused directed energy to raise the surface spot temperature to ~3,000K, allowing direct vaporization of all known substances. In the process of heating the surface ejecting evaporated material a large reaction force would alter the asteroid’s orbit. The baseline system is a DE-STAR 3 or 4 (1-10km array) depending on the degree of protection desired. A DE-STAR 4 allows for asteroid engagement starting beyond 1AU with a spot temperature sufficient to completely evaporate up to 500-m diameter asteroids in one year. Small asteroids and comets can be diverted/evaporated with a DESTAR 2 (100m) while space debris is vaporized with a DE-STAR 1 (10m).
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