DLR Portal
Home|Sitemap|Contact Imprint and terms of use Privacy Cookies & Tracking |Deutsch
You are here: Home:Institute:Departments:Solid State Lasers and Nonlinear Optics
Advanced Search
News
Key Topics
Institute
Director
Departments
Active Optical Systems
Atmospheric Propagation and Effect
Solid State Lasers and Nonlinear Optics
Staff
How to get to us
Publications
Job offer
Education Electronics

Solid State Lasers and nonlinear Optics


The Solid State Lasers and Nonlinear Optics department deals with the optimisation of the beam quality of solid state lasers – in particular thin disk lasers – in continuous wave or pulsed operation and their power scaling in the multi-kilowatt range. The focus is on the application of laser radiation over large distances for applications such as the detection and removal of space debris, laser-based air defence and optical energy transmission with lasers (laser power beaming). Laser-based measurement techniques are developed and studied for other fields such as atmospheric research, communication and remote detection. This includes in particular non-linear optics methods to permit individual selection of the emission wavelength at high frequency stability. The investigation of laser spectroscopy and its implementation in laser-based flight instruments is a further area of research. The institute develops optical sensor-systems which offer higher precision and reliability of air data, e.g. air pressure, temperature and air speed.
Full article

Pulsed lasers


Pulsed laser systems are advantageous for many applications compared to continuous wave (cw) lasers as they allow for generating extremely high radiation intensities, even at moderate average laser power. The high spatial and temporal concentration of energy in a laser pulse and the large parameter space, which characterises a laser pulse (pulse duration, pulse energy, pulse shape, wavelength, spectral width) open numerous applications ...
Read more

Nonlinear optics


Solid-state lasers are characterised mainly by their high efficiency and compactness. Since the emission wavelengths of these lasers are determined by the spectral and crystallographic properties of the solid-state medium, not all wavelength ranges are directly accessible...
Read more

Coherent coupling


Power scaling of laser systems can be achieved by coupling individual laser sources. The total power at the target is then the sum of the individual contributions. However, the intensity distribution depends on the type of coupling. Due to the wave nature of the laser radiation...
Read more

Eye-safe


The risk and injury of the eye in the form of coagulative damage to the retina from lasers exists even at powers of less than one milliwatt due to the focusing of the beam on the retina. At wavelengths greater than 1.4 microns, however, this risk is significantly lower ...
Read more

High power lasers


High power lasers with up to 16 kilowatts of continuous power are used today in industry for cutting and welding metal plates in materials processing. These laser systems are based partly on the thin disk laser concept. Typically, in multi-mode operation these lasers emit with a beam quality factor M² > 20 and require a short distance from the emission aperture to the work piece. However, for the application of laser radiation over large distances of several kilometres ...
Read more
Contact
Jochen Speiser
Head of department Solid State Lasers and Nonlinear Optics

German Aerospace Center

Institute of Technical Physics
, Solid State Lasers and Nonlinear Optics
Stuttgart

Tel.: +49 711 6862-451

Fax: +49 711 6862-788

Copyright © 2023 German Aerospace Center (DLR). All rights reserved.