9300486 Keszenheimer Q-switching a laser is a practical means of producing short, high intensity optical pulses. For some applications the physical size and robustness of the laser is an important consideration, and in these cases Q-switched, composite-cavity, microchip lasers are highly desirable. Conventional laser technology uses discrete optical components which are subject to misalignment due to thermal cycling or vibration. Composite-cavity microchip laser technology eliminates the superfluous space present in conventional lasers allowing the smallest possible package size for the laser. Q-switched lasers can be designed independently to optimize peak power, pulse energy, power efficiency, or pulse width. The primary goal of this research is to develop composite-cavity microchip lasers from a variety of laser materials which optimize these parameters. This is a SBIR Phase II project that provides data on performance tradeoffs that will enable Q-switched microchip lasers to be designed for many applications. Such applications of Q-switched composite-cavity microchip lasers include: materials processing (welding, soldering, ablation, etc.), laser range finding (topographic mapping, collision avoidance, optical time domain reflectivity, laser radar), and generation of visible radiation via frequency conversion ,e.g., for optical recording. ***
