Performance of high-power laser diode arrays for spaceborne lasers.
The adequacy of commercial quasi-continuous high-power laser diode arrays (HPLDAs) as pump sources for spaceborne lasers has been assessed by endurance tests up to 3 x 10(9) shots under various stress conditions, vacuum operation up to 0.36 x 10(9) shots, and proton radiation tests. Observations of the evolution of the electro-optic parameters and of the near-field patterns of the HPLDAs during endurance tests have revealed that some diode bars could reach the required lifetime of a multibillion shots, suggesting how to build long lifetime HPLDAs by proper selection of the diode bars. The robustness of the HPLDAs against the proton environment experienced in a typical low Earth orbit has been checked. Finally, high-power laser diode arrays have been operated under vacuum, showing a behavior similar to that of HPLDAs operating in atmospheric conditions.
Durand
Yannig
Y
Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes, European Space Agency, Keplerlaan 1, Noordwijk, The Netherlands. yannig.durand@esa.int
Culoma
Alain
A
Meynart
Roland
R
Pinsard
Jean-Luc
JL
Volluet
Gerard
G