XeF pumped Tm:YLF laser scaling. Final report 1 Apr 80-31 May 81

The laser requirements (energy per pulse, average power, beam quality) for the ground based Strategic Laser Communications (SLC) mission represent a significant advance over currently available technology. The combination of very high average power and near diffraction limited beam quality in a spectral region where comparatively few devices have been developed poses a severe challenge to the technology. This report describes work on a Tm:YLF laser, a resonantly pumped, crystalline solid state laser, which emits nominally at 450nm when pumped by the XeF rare gas halide laser. The technical objective of this program was the determination of the feasibility of XeF pumped Tm:YLF as a source for the SLC ground based mission.