Pulsed digital multiplex laser generator

US4677398A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army · US

Inventors

• Thomas E. Honeycutt · Somerville, US
• Thomas G. Roberts · Huntsville, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jul 25, 1985
• Grant date: Jun 30, 1987
• Expiry date: Jul 25, 2005

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H01S3/2391
• WIPO field: Optics
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A system of lasers which produces a single pulsed laser beam carrying many channels of digital information simultaneously. The information content of each laser output pulse is determined by the presence or absence of one or more input signal channel frequencies. The presence or absence of each frequency is provided by a plurality of low power CW lasers operating at different frequencies and which are selectively gated in a binary fashion by pulse coded digital input signals to provide digitized low power laser outputs in accordance with the digital input signals. The low level pulses of the various optical frequencies are combined and utilized to preload a relatively high power pulsed CO.sub.2 output laser. A pair of mirror assemblies are utilized to respectively combine the multifrequency channel pulses and transmit a single pulsed output laser beam generated by the pulsed output laser. The presence or absence of each frequency component in each output pulse is determined by the frequency components preloading the cavity modes of the pulsed high power output laser.