Arlington, VA 25 January 2020 10:00
The use of lasers for directed energy military applications allow for target engagements at “light speed” that can damage or destroy a target almost instantly upon target acquisition. Increasing the power while reducing the size and weight, collectively known as SWaP, is essential for these lasers to be used on a wide variety of Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine or Coast Guard platforms. The key to SWaP optimization is a highly efficient, low weight, and small-scale laser diode pump. Size and performance are important, as kilowatt and megawatt-class directed energy lasers require thousands of laser diode pumps, otherwise known as the “laser in the laser.”