ARETE ASSOCIATES — Department of Defense STTR Phase I: Arete proposes the development of Q-switched semiconductor lasers that can be scaled to pr

Description

Arete proposes the development of Q-switched semiconductor lasers that can be scaled to produce high output peak powers within the blue/green wavelength band. The proposed system will utilize nanostructure quantum wavefunction engineering for gain material designs having extended excited state lifetimes and suppressed non-radiative processes to enable energy storage for high-peak-power optical pulses. Short excited-state lifetimes have previously been a fundamental limitation on semiconductor lasers. This limitation had been circumvented through the use of the Diode Pumped Solid-State (DPSS) laser architectures where diode efficiency and rare-earth crystal upper-state-lifetimes are used together to obtain high-peak-power pulses in Q-switched cavities. By engineering nanopartical heterojunctions to lengthen radiative lifetimes and suppress non-radiative processes, energy storage capability can be increased in semiconductor materials, enabling high peak powers without the use of DPSS architectures. Initial efforts will provide theoretical guidance for material fabrication based on material and laser system analysis.