KEYWORDS: Sensors, 3D acquisition, Fluctuations and noise, Mars, Space operations, LIDAR, 3D metrology, 3D image processing, Light sources and illumination, Imaging systems
TetraVue is developing a MegaPixel-class 3D camera system that uniquely addresses autonomous spacecraft requirements for a situational awareness sensor during the planetary landing phase. TetraVue's system uses a novel approach to FLASH LIDAR which utilizes existing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) focal plane arrays in a single aperture module. This makes the system flexible enough to adapt to different resolution requirements without reinventing the hardware architecture or develop new imaging sensors with custom readout circuitry. Since the system uses a nanosecond-class laser as an illumination source, similar to a strobe, the data is insensitive to any discernable cross-motion which make it ideally suitable for landing site selection during the horizontal coast phase.
We report on the development of a ytterbium-based disk amplifier for an ultra-short pulse laser using
edge-pumped architecture and offering excellent scalability to high-average power in the kW-range. The
disk has a composite construction with undoped perimetral edge designed to channel pump light while
efficiently outcoupling amplified spontaneous emission. Uniform extraction of waste heat together with
uniform pumping offers very low optical path distortion and allows for amplification of near diffraction
limited beams in nanosecond-class pulses. This work discusses performance modeling of the edgepumped
disk amplifier using a newly developed time-dependent 2-dimensional (spatial) model for
dynamic pumping and extraction. Selection of laser materials and an innovative two-disk amplifier
architecture for multiple extractions are also presented.
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