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The Defense Intelligence Agency produced this reference document, dated 31 March 2010, under its Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications (AAWSA) Program. It reviews the state of the art and likely evolution of high-energy laser weapons, including chemical, solid-state, fiber and free-electron lasers, as well as beam control and the history of DoD laser research. It concludes that electrically powered lasers could make megawatt-class weapons practical and that spacecraft laser weapons are conceivable within 20 years. It also recommends ways to protect spacecraft from laser damage.
“The Advance”10 pages
UNCLASSIFIED//FIHl 8FFHil.t.L Wfili tH•LY High Power Laser Device Hif}h Power Optics Pointer I Tracker I and Beam Shaping Target Designator \-···· ! \ J ~'" 0 t--g--i ·--::::-:/ Gain Medium I . MIRRORS ENERGY SOURCE Figure 2. Elements of an HEL Weapon System Laser Devices LASER FUNDAMENTALS TRACKER /'··• Ail POIN,CR '0 TARGET DESIGNATOR Atmosphelic Propagation Atmospheric, absorption, scattering, and turbulence Target The term "Laser" is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. It is a unique device that employs the quantum states of matter to store and convert energy into electromagnetic radiation. The resulting radiation is referred to as "coherent," meaning it is single wavelength or "monochromatic" and highly focusable due to its well controlled phase. In its simplest form, any laser device can be viewed as an "energy-conversion" box with one input and two outputs. The input is energy, which can take a variety of forms (electricity, light, or a chemical reaction) depending on the specific laser, while the two outputs are a coherent beam and heat (Figure 3). Since the overall energy-conversion lasing process is considerably less than 100 percent efficient, significant waste heat is generated which must be removed from the laser. Inside the laser is a "gain-medium" which stores a fraction of the input energy in its atoms or molecules and then releases the energy at the laser's selected wavelength. The laser also contains "resonator" mirrors which repeatedly relay the beam back and forth through the gain medium to increase its energy level. The laser device functions as the optical equivalent of an electrical oscillator with the resonator optics providing the feedback. Different lasers, which use various materials as their gain medium, emit radiation at wavelengths ranging from the infrared through the visible spectrum and into the ultraviolet. 3 UNCLASSIFIED//EiOAi OEiEiIQI.Ctk Wlilii IH•LY
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Report, from the dia collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 31 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.