Engineering topics

Hwang, In Heon

Publications and source records attributed to Hwang, In Heon.

5 records

NASA NTRS1990

Direct solar-pumped iodine laser amplifier

The optimum conditions of a solar pumped iodine laser are found in this research for the case of a continuous wave operation and a pulsed operation. The optimum product of the pressure(p) inside the laser tube and the tube diameter(d) was pd=40 approx. 50 torr-cm on the contrary to the case of a high intensity flashlamp pumped iodine laser where the optimum value of the product is known to be pd=150 torr-cm. The pressure-diameter product is less than 1/3 of that of the high power iodine laser. During the research period, various laser materials were also studied for solar pumping. Among the laser materials, Nd:YAG is found to have the lowest laser threshold pumping intensity of about 200 solar constant. The Rhodamine 6G was also tested as the solar pumped laser material. The threshold pumping power was measured to be about 20,000 solar constant. The amplification experiment for a continuously pumped iodine laser amplifier was performed using Vortek solar simulator and the amplification factors were measured for single pass amplification and triple pass amplification of the 15 cm long amplifier tube. The amplification of 5 was obtained for the triple pass amplification.

Han, Kwang S.↗

NASA NTRS1989

XeCl laser pumped iodine laser using t-C4F9I

An iodine photodissociation laser using t-C4F9I as the active material was pumped by a XeCl laser. An iodine laser output energy of 3 mJ with pulse duration of 25 ns was obtained when the pumping pulse energy was 80 mJ, the iodine pressure was 70 torr, and the reflectance of the output mirror was 85 percent. The high pumping efficiency and low threshold pump power achieved in this experiment are attributable to the high absorption cross section at the pump laser wavelength (308 nm) of the iodide used.

Hwang, In Heon↗

NASA NTRS1989

Direct solar-pumped iodine laser amplifier

This semiannual progress report covers the period from September 1, 1988 to February 28, 1989 under NASA grant NAG-1-441 entitled, Direct Solar-Pumped Iodine Laser Amplifier. During this period, the research effort was concentrated on the solar pumped master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) system using n-C3F7I. In the experimental work, the amplification measurement was conducted to identify the optimum conditions for amplification of the center's Vortek solar simulator pumped iodine laser amplifier. A modeling effort was also pursued to explain the experimental results in the theoretical work. The amplification measurement of the solar simulator pumped iodine laser amplifier is the first amplification experiment on the continuously pumped amplifier. The small signal amplification of 5 was achieved for the triple pass geometry of the 15 cm long solar simulator pumped amplifier at the n-C3F7I pressure of 20 torr, at the flow velocity of 6 m/sec and at the pumping intensity of 1500 solar constants. The XeCl laser pumped iodine laser oscillator, which was developed in the previous research, was employed as the master oscillator for the amplification measurement. In the theoretical work, the rate equations of the amplifier was established and the small signal amplification was calculated for the solar simulator pumped iodine laser amplifier. The amplification calculated from the kinetic equations with the previously measured rate coefficients reveals very large disagreement with experimental measurement. Moreover, the optimum condition predicted by the kinetic equation is quite discrepant with that measured by experiment. This fact indicates the necessity of study in the measurement of rate coefficients of the continuously pumped iodine laser system.

Han, Kwang S.↗

NASA NTRS1989

XeCl laser pumped iodine laser using t-C4F9I

An iodine photodissociation laser using t-C4F9I as the active material was pumped by an XeCl laser. An iodine laser output energy of 3 mJ with pulse duration of 25 ns was obtained when the pumping pulse energy was 80 mJ, the iodide pressure was 70 torr, and the reflectance of the output mirror was 85 percent. The high pumping efficiency and low threshold pump power achieved in this experiment are attributable to the high absorption cross section at the pump laser wavelength (308 nm) of the iodide used.

Hwang, In Heon↗

NASA NTRS1988

Direct solar-pumped iodine laser amplifier

A XeCl laser pumped iodine laser oscillator was developed which will be incorporated into the Master Oscillator Power Amplifier (MOPA) system. The developed XeCl laser produces output energy of about 60 mJ per pulse. The pulse duration was about 10 nsec. The kinetic model for the solar-pumped laser was refined and the algorithm for the calculation of a set of rate equations was improved to increase the accuracy and the efficiency of the calculation. The improved algorithm was applied to explain the existing experimental data taken from a flashlamp pumped iodine laser for three kinds of lasants, i-C3F7I, n-C4F9I, and t-C4F9I. Various solid laser materials were evaluated for solar-pumping. The materials studied were Nd:YAG, Nd:YLF, and Cr:Nd:GSGG crystals. The slope efficiency of 0.17 percent was measured for the Nd:YLF near the threshold pump intensity which was 211 solar constants (29W/sq cm). The threshold pump intensity of the Nd:YAG was measured to be 236 solar constants (32W/sq cm) and the near-threshold slope efficiency was 0.12 percent. True CW laser operation of Cr:Nd:GSGG was possible only at pump intensities less than or equal to 1,500 solar constants (203 W/sq cm). This fact was attributed to the high thermal focusing effect of the Cr:Nd:GSGG rod.

Han, Kwang S.↗