High SBS-Threshold Er/Yb Co-Doped Phosphate Glass Fiber Amplifiers for High Power, Sub-us Pulsed, Narrow Linewidth, All Fiber-Based Laser Transmitter

In Phase I, NP Photonics has achieved 1.2 kW peak power for 105 ns fiber laser pulses, and successfully demonstrated the feasibility to produce monolithic high SBS threshold narrow linewidth fiber amplifiers for all fiber-based laser transmitters ideally suited to NASA's active remote sensing spectroscopy. In Phase II, NP Photonics proposes to develop prototypes or products of the high SBS-threshold, Single-Mode (SM), polarization maintaining (PM), high power amplifiers operating with sub-microsecond pulses and transform-limited linewidth. This is based on the successful demonstrations in Phase I by using NP's proprietary patented large core SM PM highly Er/Yb co-doped phosphate glass fibers. Furthermore, in order to push the SBS threshold to the 100s kW level and to demonstrate even higher SBS threshold and improved conversion efficiency for 100-500 ns transform-limited fiber laser pulses, a new large core SM PM photonic crystal phosphate fiber 100/400 will be designed and fabricated in Phase II. It will be used to build the 3rd power amplifier stage in order to offer prototype/product services by achieving 10s kW peak power and 5-mJ pulse energy free of SBS effects. This will more fully enable NASA's active remote sensing with fiber laser pulses at 765 nm by using NP's Single Mode phosphate fiber amplifiers.

The proposed monolithic amplifier can be used for narrow linewidth CW and pulse amplification in nanosecond/microsecond regime due to the high SBS-threshold. The proposed narrow linewidth pulsed fiber lasers in MOPA can be used for high resolution laser spectroscopy, velocimetry, anemometry, coherent Lidar, imagery, laser frequency conversion, and ranging finding owing to their high spatial and spectral qualities.

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Langley Research Center, and Ames Research Center have been investigating a number of remote sensing concepts using fiber lasers. For example, they are developing the fiber laser spectroscopic instruments for absorption lines of oxygen in the range of 760-770 nm to determine atmospheric pressure and temperature from their effect on the shape and strength of the A band absorption lines. The proposed high SBS-threshold high power amplifiers result in high power narrow linewidth pulsed fiber laser transmitter at 765 nm that is ideal source for NASA's fiber laser spectroscopic instruments from ground, airborne, and space-based platform. Also, it can be used in other planned missions or technology programs, such as Doppler Wind Lidar, Lidar for Surface Topagraphy (LIST), and Earth and Planetary Atmospheric Composition (ASCENDS).

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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