Approaches to efficient coupling of laser beams to obscured telescopes

Hamid Hemmati; Norman A. Page

doi:10.1117/12.464108

26 April 2002 Approaches to efficient coupling of laser beams to obscured telescopes

Hamid Hemmati, Norman A. Page

Proceedings Volume 4635, Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies XIV; (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.464108
Event: High-Power Lasers and Applications, 2002, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

For free-space propagation, often laser sources with Gaussian intensity profile are utilized. A Cassegrainian telescope's central obstruction can block a significant amount of the transmitted beam energy. The previously known approaches to solve the problem include: use of an axicon optical element and or sub-aperture illumination of the telescope primary mirror. Two new approaches have been identified to eliminate all secondary mirror and baffle vignetting. These approaches include a beam-slicer and a beam-splitter/combiner optics. The new approaches eliminate the precise alignment required for axicon devices and are simple to fabricate. The beam-splitter/prism combiner approach results in a clean far field pattern and has transmission divergence that is limited to the diffraction limit for each of the sub-aperture transmission beams.

Citation Download Citation

Hamid Hemmati and Norman A. Page "Approaches to efficient coupling of laser beams to obscured telescopes", Proc. SPIE 4635, Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies XIV, (26 April 2002); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.464108

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available