Eyesafe lasers capable of operating at moderate pulse repetitive rates have direct application for optical atmospheric data, wire avoidance, air defense, and a variety of other military and commercial systems. Such applications demand a significant increase in performance over the uncooled single-shot erbium:glass laser widely used in rangefinder systems. Varo Inc. is meeting this need with recently developed repetition-rated Er:glass laser systems. Separate solutions have been designed for the different thermal loading conditions imposed by various pulse rate/duty cycle combinations. For moderate thermal loads (up to 1 Hz for limited duty cycles), an uncooled resonator is usually adequate. For high loads (1 to 20 Hz at extended duty cycles), a flowing cooling system has been developed. For extreme conditions (continuous operation above 20 Hz), research is focused on reducing the heat load by using high-efficiency laser diode pumping.
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