Lasers Based on Gas Filled Hollow-Core Photonic Crystal Fibers

Current continuous wave (CW) and pulse mid-wave infrared (MWIR) lasers have design and performance limitations that constrain their usability in some critical Air Force applications. There is an important need to create a new class of MWIR laser sources with less drawbacks and higher pulse energies and CW powers. The proposed work will demonstrate the technical feasibility of an innovative MWIR laser technology called hollow-core optical fiber gas laser or HOFGLAS with significant advantages over current MWIR laser technologies. This unique HOFGLAS is consistent with the goal to develop a compact, monolithic and robust laser design with high efficiency and good beam quality (diffraction limited) in the MWIR 2-5 micron spectrum. The novel HOFGLAS technology can generate MWIR laser through nonlinear optical (Raman shift) or direct laser generation (population inversion). Also the average power for pulse operation (multi-nanosecond, 1-20 kHz) will be greater than 1 Watt, while the average power in CW mode will be greater than 5 Watts.