A spaceborne neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser with nonplanar-ring-oscillator configuration

Abstract

Due to their excellent noise performance and technical maturity, ultra-stable continuous-wave neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet lasers are one of the major light sources in a series of precision measurements such as ground and space-based gravitational wave detection, inter-satellite laser ranging and coherent optical communication. As the first step of developing an ultra-stable spaceborne laser, we carried out the design, development and environmental test of an all-solid-state Nd:YAG NPRO spaceborne laser. The laser deliveries 11.48 mW of optical power at 1064.405 nm, exhibits intensity and frequency noises less than 1 × 10[Formula: see text]/[Formula: see text]Hz and 1 MHz/[Formula: see text]Hz (Fourier frequencies [Formula: see text] 10 mHz), respectively, passed environmental tests and has been onboard the first satellite of the Taiji program for one year. The work laid a solid foundation for realizing ultra-stable lasers for the Taiji program as well as being used in many space applications.