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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
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Modification of conventional laser provides correct gravitational alignment by utilizing surface pool of mercury as a gravity-sensitive cavity mirror. Laser action is stimulated only when mirrors are normal to the axis of the beam.
A description is given of a device for determining a true gravitational vertical. The apparatus is composed of a vertically disposed laser with a gravitationally sensitive lower regeneration reflector. The reflector enables an output beam to be developed only when the optical axis of the laser is disposed normal to the gravitationally sensitive reflective surface. In an alternative embodiment, the devices is combined with a servo system to provide a gravitationally stabilized horizontal platform.
Injection locking was applied to a cavity-dumped coaxial flashlamp pumped dye laser in an effort to obtain nanosecond duration pulses which have both high energy and narrow-linewidth. In the absence of an injected laser pulse, the cavity-dumped dye laser was capable of generating high energy (approx. 60mJ) nanosecond duration output pulses. These pulses, however, had a fixed center wavelength and were extremely broadband (approx. 6nm FWHM). Experimental investigations were performed to determine if the spectral properties of these outputs could be improved through the use of injection-locking techniques. A parametric study to determine the specific conditions under which the laser could be injection-locked was also carried out. Significant linewidth reduction to 0.0015nm) of the outputs was obtained through injection-locking but only at wavelengths near the peak lasing wavelength of the dye. It was found, however; that by inserting weakly dispersive tuning elements in the laser cavity, these narrow-linewidth outputs could be obtained over a wide (24nm) tuning range. Since the tuning elements had low insertion losses, the tunability of the output was obtained without sacrificing output pulse energy.
Thermal radiation from a high temperature oven was used as an optical pump to achieve lasing from CO2 mixtures. Laser output as a function of blackbody temperature and gas conditions is described. This achievement represents the first blackbody cavity pumped laser and has potential for solar pumping.
Thermal radiation from a high temperature oven was used as an optical pump to achieve lasing from CO2 mixtures. Laser output as a function of blackbody temperature and gas conditions is described. This achievement represents the first blackbody cavity pumped laser and has potential for solar pumping. Previously announced in STAR as N83-10420
Here, we have applied cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) to the study of the 166Er isotope in an atomic beam. These measurements were realized with an external cavity diode laser tuned to the 400.9 nm atomic transition of erbium and a customized high-finesse ring-down optical cavity under vacuum. Erbium atomic beams of different number densities were generated in a tantalum foil micro-crucible within the cavity. Absorbance values of the 166Er isotope between 3 × 10–6 and 7 × 10–5 were measured with a best-case precision on the order of 10–6, which is remarkable when considering the extreme temperatures at which the measurements were conducted, and the short detection path which is characteristic of collimated atomic beams. Number densities of erbium atoms were inferred to be between 2 × 106 and 6 × 107 cm–3. This work demonstrates for the first time the ability of studying dilute atomic beams of refractory materials with high accuracy utilizing CRDS. In these initial studies, we used erbium as a model system, but we expect to extend the proposed approach to the measurement of isotopes of uranium and plutonium for nuclear non-proliferation applications.
We report a tunable, single frequency, narrow linewidth, pulsed laser diode transmitter at 935.68nm for remote sensing of atmospheric water vapor. The transmitter consists of a CW, tunable, external cavity diode laser whose output is amplified 2OdB using a tapered diode amplifier. The output is pulsed for range resolved DIAL lidar by pulsing the drive current to the diode amplifier at 4kHz with a .5% duty cycle. The output from the transmitter is 36OnJ/pulse and is single spatial mode. It maintains a linewidth of less than 25MHz as its wavelength is tuned across the water vapor absorption line at 935.68nm. The transmitter design and its use in a water vapor measurement will be discussed.
Filtered Rayleigh scattering using iodine absorption cells is an effective technique for obtaining density, temperature, and velocity measurements in high speed confined flows. By tuning a single frequency laser to a strong iodine absorption line, stray scattered laser light can be greatly suppressed. For example, the minimum transmission predicted by an iodine absorption model calculation is less than 10(exp -5) at the 18788.44/cm line using a 200 mm absorption cell containing iodine vapor at 0.46 T. Measurements obtained by other researches using a CW Nd:YAG laser agree with the model calculations. However, measurements made by us and by others using Q-switched, injection-seeded, frequency doubled Nd:YAG lasers only show minimum transmission of about 3 x 10(exp -3). This greatly reduces the applicability of the filtered Rayleigh scattering technique using these lasers in experiments having large amounts of stray scattered laser light. The purposes of the present study are to characterize the spectrum of the excess light transmitted by the iodine cell and to make changes to the laser to reduce the transmitted laser light. Transmission data as a function of laser frequency for the iodine absorption line at 18788.44/cm are presented. A planar mirror Fabry-Perot interferometer was used to characterize the frequency spectrum of the light passed through the cell. Measurements taken with the laser tuned to the center of the iodine absorption line show the light transmitted through the iodine cell to have a component with a bandwidth of about 40 GHz. This is probably caused by other modes in the laser that exist in spite of the single frequency injection beam. A second broadband component was also observed, possibly caused by the laser flash lamps or by fluorescence. An intracavity etalon was installed in the laser oscillator cavity to suppress the 40 GHz component. Measurements taken with the etalon tuned to the injection frequency showed a reduction in the transmitted laser light. This improvement allows the iodine cell to block significantly more of the stray laser light in filtered Rayleigh scattering experiments. Examples are given of filtered Rayleigh scattering measurements showing the effect of the etalon on measurements taken in a Mach 3 flow in the NASA Lewis 4 inch by 10 inch supersonic wind tunnel.
Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) requires a highly stable time reference and synchronization system to maintain coherence between observations recorded independently at multiple stations – for example, the array of ground-based radio telescopes that comprise the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). Instability in the time reference or inaccuracy in the synchronization impacts phase conference and reduces the performance of the VLBI system. For space-based telescopes like the Event Horizon Explorer (EHE) mission, the precision timing system must meet the size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints of the spacecraft platform and be capable of operating in the space environment. The EHE mission is a proposed extension to the EHT that can improve the angular and time resolution of observations by enabling longer interferometric baselines than are possible on the Earth and sampling a wide range of Fourier spatial frequencies throughout the orbital motion. In this effort, we demonstrate the performance of one option for the EHE mission: the use of a space-qualified, ultra-low noise laser developed as part of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission as the timing reference, and an optical frequency comb to transfer the stability of this laser to the microwave regime for instrumentation use. We describe the implementation of the microwave down-conversion, in which the LISA cavity-stabilized laser is locked to a self-referenced optical frequency comb to divide the optical frequency down to 100 MHz. The phase noise of the 100 MHz signal is measured and validated using a phase noise analyzer that is referenced to a separate laboratory ultra-stable laser system. We present the results of this experiment, which demonstrates that the performance of this system meets the EHE requirement: a relative frequency error of 1e-14 from 1 to 30 seconds.
Laser light is confined in a hollow waveguide between two highly reflective mirrors. This waveguide cavity is used to conduct Cavity Ringdown Absorption Spectroscopy of loss mechanisms in the cavity including absorption or scattering by gases, liquid, solids, and/or optical elements.
A tunable diode laser sensor was designed for in situ monitoring of temperature in the arc heater of the NASA Ames IHF arcjet facility (60 MW). An external cavity diode laser was used to generate light at 777.2 nm and laser absorption used to monitor the population of electronically excited oxygen atoms in an air plasma flow. Under the assumption of thermochemical equilibrium, time-resolved temperature measurements were obtained on four lines-of-sight, which enabled evaluation of the temperature uniformity in the plasma column for different arcjet operating conditions.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) has been recognized as one of the most important greenhouse gases. It is essential for the study of global warming to accurately measure the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere and continuously record its variation. A high repetition rate, highly efficient, Q-switched 2-micron laser system as the transmitter of a coherent differential absorption lidar for CO2 measurement has been developed in NASA Langley Research Center. This laser system is capable of making a vertical profiling of CO2 from ground and column measurement of CO2 from air and space-borne platform. The transmitter is a master-slave laser system. The master laser operates in a single frequency, either on-line or off-line of a selected CO2 absorption line. The slave laser is a Q-switched ring-cavity Ho:YLF laser which is pumped by a Tm:fiber laser. The repetition rate can be adjusted from a few hundred Hz to 10 kHz. The injection seeding success rate is from 99.4% to 99.95%. For 1 kHz operation, the output pulse energy is 5.5mJ with the pulse length of ~50 ns. The optical-to-optical efficiency is 39% when the pump power is 14.5W. A Ho:YLF laser operating in the range of 2.05 micrometers can be tuned over several characteristic lines of CO2 absorption. Experimentally, a diode pumped Ho:Tm:YLF laser has been successfully used as the transmitter of coherent differential absorption lidar for the measurement of CO2 with a repetition rate of 5 Hz and pulse energy of 75 mJ. For coherent detection, high repetition rate is required for speckle averaging to obtain highly precise measurements. However, a diode pumped Ho:Tm:YLF laser can not operate in high repetition rate due to the large heat loading and up-conversion. A Tm:fiber laser pumped Ho:YLF laser with low heat loading can operate in high repetition rate. A theoretical model has been established to simulate the performance of Tm:fiber laser pumped Ho:YLF lasers. For continuous wave (CW) operation, high pump intensity with small beam size is suitable for high efficiency. For Q-switched operation, the optimal energy extraction relies on the pump intensity, pump volume, and pump duration which is inversely proportion to the repetition rate. CW and Q-switched Ho:YLF lasers with different linear cavity configurations have been designed and demonstrated for a 30 W Tm:fiber pump laser. The CW Ho laser slope efficiency and optical-to-optical efficiencies reach 65% and 55%, respectively. The pulsed laser efficiency depends on the repetition rate. For 1 kHz operation, the optical-to-optical efficiency is 39% when the pump power is 14.5W. Currently, the injection seeding success rate is between 99.4% and 99.95%. After a ten thousand pulses, the standard deviation of the laser frequency jitter is about 3 MHz. It meets the requirements of highly precise CO2 concentration measurement. In conclusion, an injection seeded, high repetition rate, Q-switched Ho:YLF laser has been developed for a coherent CO2 differential absorption lidar. This master-slave laser system has high optical-to-optical efficiency and seeding success rate. It can potentially meet the requirements of the coherent detection of CO2 concentration by a differential absorption lidar technique.
Tunable narrowband mid-infrared radiation from 3.25 to 4.4 micrometers is generated by a compact fiber-coupled, difference-frequency-based spectroscopic source. A 20-mW external cavity diode laser (with a tuning range from 814 to 870 nm) and a 50-mW distributed-Bragg-reflector diode-laser-seeded ytterbium-doped fiber amplifier operating at 1083 nm are difference-frequency mixed in a multi-grating, temperature-controlled periodically poled LiNbO3 crystal. A conversion efficiency of 0.44 mW/(W2cm) (corresponding to a power of approximately equal to 3 microW at 3.3 micrometers) represents the highest conversion efficiency reported for a portable device. Performance characteristics of such a sensor and its application to spectroscopic detection of CO2, N2O, H2CO, HCl, NO2, and CH4 will be reported in this work.
Aztec(TradeMark) is the commercial name for Southwest Sciences laser. The laser has coarse tuning ranges of 10 nanometers (nm) to 30 nm at wavelengths ranging from 630 nm to 2,300 nm, making it the only commercially available external cavity diode laser with wavelengths beyond 1,650 nm. The laser's high-speed tuning in both coarse and fine wavelength regimes allows for increased trace gas detection. With the automated coarse tuning option, the Aztec sweeps through its wavelength range in less than 1 millisecond. While some diode lasers can only detect one type, or species, of a trace gas, the Aztec's broad wavelength tuning provides access to multiple trace gas species. The Aztec has a wide range of applications for both NASA and commercial users, from protecting astronauts in space to improving combustion processes on Earth. It may serve as a new tool for planetary exploration, as it can detect a wide range of multiple gas species in planetary atmospheres. The laser could optically detect gaseous indicators of incipient fires on the International Space Station and Space Shuttle, as well as detect low concentrations of potentially toxic gases in spacecraft crew habitats. The laser could also provide more accurate fire detection in aircraft cargo compartments. Since the Aztec can detect several gases that only evolve during an actual fire, its implementation could reduce the large number of commercial aircraft landings that currently occur due to false alarms. Other applications include environmental and industrial process monitoring.
A double-cavity optical configuration designed to maximize the power available from CW lasers is reported. A passive supplementary cavity is strongly coupled to the main active laser cavity. It is shown theoretically that higher powers are available inside the passive cavity than those achievable by operating the same laser in a two-mirror configuration designed for optimum coupling. Furthermore, the power inside the passive cavity is equal to or greater than the useful circulating power in the two-mirror configuration. Key aspects of the theory are verified with a high power CW argon laser.
Multi-Megawatt CW solar-pumped lasers appear to be technologically feasible for space power transmission in the 1990s time frame. A new concept for a solar-pumped laser is presented which utilizes an intermediate black body cavity to provide a uniform optical pumping environment for the lasant, either CO or CO2. Reradiation losses are minimized with resulting high efficiency operation. A 1 MW output laser may weigh as little as 8000 kg including solar collector, black body cavity, laser cavity and ducts, pumps, power systems and waste heat radiator. The efficiency of such a system will be on the order of 10 to 20%. Details of the new concept, laser design, comparison to competing solar-powered lasers and applications to a laser solar power satellite (SPS) concept are presented.
Mode-locked vertical external cavity semiconductor lasers are a unique class of nonlinear dynamical systems driven far from equilibrium. We present a novel, to the best of our knowledge, experimental result, supported by rigorous microscopic simulations, of two coexisting mode-locked V-cavity configurations sourced by a common gain medium and operating as independent channels at angle controlled separated wavelengths. Microscopic simulations support pulses coincident on the common gain chip extracting photons from a nearby pair of coexisting kinetic holes burned in the carrier distributions.
A demonstration of CW parametric upconversion of 3.39-micron IR radiation inside a He-Ne laser's optical cavity is reported. The upconversion was achieved with the aid of a 5145-A argon laser pump and a lithium niobate crystal; the circulating power available inside the pump laser's cavity was used to maximize the efficiency of the upconversion process. Losses associated with the pump blocking filters and with the lithium niobate crystal are discussed. It is concluded that despite the high losses (approximately 12%) associated with the lithium niobate, the highest measured power conversion efficiency of 0.0038 compares favorably with the best CW external conversion efficiency reported to date.