Ram Photonics LLC SBIR Phase II Award, December 2020

Military DEWs place stringent requirements on fiber laser that cannot rely on existing commercial solutions. DoD organizations invest heavily into fiber laser development, ranging from using existing CoTS fibers to R&D of new optical fibers. Fabricated fibers do not match the design, even for CoTS fibers that can vary even in a single draw. Currently, simulation tools to analyze measured fiber data and predict the behavior of the fiber in a high-power amplifier only exist within a handful of research laboratories; even the fiber manufactures themselves do not have this capability. Most laboratories and companies must invest significant time and money to physically construct and measure a fiber’s performance. The DEW community requires a commercial service that provides a complete assessment on physically measured fiber profiles. To this end, we propose to develop a complete simulation environment for assessing the performance of given measured fiber profiles in a high-power amplifier configuration. The predictive suite includes modeling based on the measured RIP and DIP, using the most advanced fiber amplifier models in existence. The new software will be completely operational at the end of the Phase II program, without requiring Phase III investment to commercialize for DoD use. Approved for Public Release | 20-MDA-10643 (3 Dec 20)