Gas Phase Lasers

Proven High Quality Power for Military Applications

CUA has decades of experience with efficient high energy laser (HEL) technologies. Personnel at CUA can perform experiments, modeling, and systems analyses for many HEL technologies. This technology was developed in conjunction with government agencies for highly sensitive military applications. 

CUA invented and demonstrated an exciting variant of the chemical oxygen-iodine laser (COIL) system that draws its power from electrical rather than chemical energy (ElectricOIL or EOIL), thereby improving its safety and mass-scaling characteristics. Additionally, CUA co-invented a variant of the diode pumped alkali laser (DPAL) called the exciplex pumped alkali laser (XPAL).

COIL and ElectricOIL are high power chemical lasers that are unique because of their strong coupling to most materials and their ability to transmit through the atmosphere as well as through common fiber optics. CUA personnel also have decades of experience with older hydrogen-fluoride (HF) and deuterium-fluoride (DF) laser systems.

Applications for gas phase high energy lasers are primarily tactical and missile defense for the military. The chemical laser technologies remain as the highest performing laser systems in terms of power, beam quality at high power, and demonstrated ability to destroy missiles at a distance. CUA achieved a high level of sophistication with this technology and while it is a highly effective solution, the application is not considered commercially viable. 

Proven High Quality Power for Military Applications
Advantages Include:

Advantages Include:

Demonstrated scalability

Excellent beam quality

Chemical-based lasers don’t require high electrical power

D. L. Carroll, “Overview of High Energy Lasers: Past, Present, and Future?” 42nd AIAA Plasmadynamics and Lasers Conference in conjunction with the 18th International Conference on MHD Energy Conversion (ICMHD), AIAA Paper 2011-3102, Honolulu, Hawaii, Jun 27-30, 2011, AIAA Paper 2011-3102, DOI 10.2514/6.2011-3102, (2011)
D. L. Carroll, J. T. Verdeyen, D. M. King, J. W. Zimmerman, J. K. Laystrom, B. S. Woodard, G. F. Benavides, N. Richardson, K. Kittell, W. C. Solomon, “Studies of CW laser oscillation on the 1315 nm transition of atomic iodine pumped by O2(1Delta) produced in an electric discharge”, IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, Vol. 41, No. 10, pp. 1309-1318, DOI n/a, (2005)