Description: The overall goal of this SBIR effort is development of a space qualifiable, compact, frequency stabilized seed laser with low SWaP for routine use in NASA LaRC's High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) flight-based and future space-based systems. In addition to refining process parameters to optimize performance, a major goal of the Phase II effort is risk mitigation through accelerated life testing and environmental component level testing to advance this highly efficient, waveguide-based Seed Laser System to TRL 6. Successful development of this technology, due to its compact, efficient, and reliable design, will enable further uses of the HSRL-based remote sensing system both in current flight-based systems and in future space-based systems.

Benefits: The primary customer is NASA Langley's High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) program for aerosol and cloud characterization. This system is being considered for the ACE lidar by NASA's ACE Science Working Group because of the higher information content it provides over backscatter lidar on key aerosol optical and microphysical properties. The proposed technology will find multiple uses in other NASA's lidar remote sensing programs, such in altimetry, DIAL lidar, and 3D WINDS where compact, low cost, stabilized single frequency laser sources are required, and also has potential application in spectroscopic measurement techniques.

In addition to NASA's use in various lidar systems, the combination of a compact, low cost, semiconductor-based source with AdvR's PLC technology will find use in fiber and free-space communications where rapid, moderate power phase modulation is required. This technology can also be applied for systems used for environmental and pollution monitoring and in stabilizing laser sources used for precision metrology. Medical applications include phase-modulation fluorimetry in bioprocess and clinical monitoring may benefit from this technology. A number of commercial lidar or lidar-like systems will benefit from the insertion of this technology including floodplain measurement, land use assessment, bathymetry, robotics and machine vision applications.