Beacon Beams for Deep Turbulence High Energy Laser Beam Directors.

摘要

The objective of this report is to outline a new type of beam director for deep turbulence propagation of high energy lasers (HELs). The proposed beam director is based on a new and innovative approach employing a Brillouin enhanced four-wave mixing mechanism for generating a tight (small spot size) beacon beam on a remote target. This mechanism results in amplification and complete conjugation (phase and amplitude) of the beacon beam without the need for wavefront sensors, deformable mirrors or predictive feedback algorithms. Complete phase conjugation is critical for beam control in the presence of strong turbulence. Conventional AO techniques do not have this capability. The beacon beam phase information from the beacon beam can be used in conjunction with an AO system to propagate HEL beams in deep turbulence.