This laser weapon can operate without cooling in Sahara Desert
What's the story
Chinese scientists have developed a revolutionary 2kW fiber laser that can work without any heating or cooling systems in extreme climates, such as in the Sahara Desert. The device can function in temperatures as low as -50 degree Celsius and as high as 50 degree Celsius. The innovation is designed for quick and ultra-portable deployment for defense and industrial purposes, unlike its European HELMA-P or India's IDDIS counterparts which require truck transport with container-sized cooling units to operate effectively.
Technological advancement
Breakthrough in stabilizing laser performance
The team, led by Chen Jinbao, Vice President of the National University of Defense Technology, has made a major breakthrough by stabilizing laser performance across a temperature range of 100 degrees. Their innovation relies on radical design choices such as 940nm pump lasers with minimal thermal drift, and direct light injection using nine forward and 18 backward fiber-coupled diodes.
Design innovation
Why coiled ytterbium-doped fiber was used
The team also placed pump combiners outside the resonator to protect heat-sensitive components. They coiled ytterbium-doped fiber at around 8cm diameters to suppress parasitic lightwaves. "We have achieved a technological breakthrough in the performance of wide-temperature operating fiber lasers," Chen and his colleagues wrote in a peer-reviewed paper published in the journal Higher Power Laser and Particle Beams.
Operational details
Laser has dual-clad optical resonator at its heart
At the heart of the laser is a dual-clad optical resonator with 99% reflective gratings at both the ends sandwiching ytterbium-doped fibers. When pumped, these ytterbium ions emit photons that are amplified into a lethal 1,080nm beam. This beam is filtered and collimated through quartz caps, further enhancing its efficiency and effectiveness for defense and industrial applications.