The second fusion of laser and aerospace—an inspiration for high energy lasers
激光与航空航天的二次融合——高能激光的启示
レーザーと航空宇宙の二次融合―高エネルギーレーザーの啓示
레이저와 항공 우주의 2차 융합 - 고에너지 레이저의 시사점
Fusión secundaria entre láser y aeroespacial: la iluminación del láser de alta energía
Fusion secondaire des lasers et de l'aérospatiale - la révélation des lasers à haute énergie
Вторичное слияние лазеров и аэрокосмической промышленности - открытие высокоэнергетических лазеров
¹ College of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
中国 长沙 国防科技大学 前沿交叉学科学院
² Interdisciplinary Center for Quantum Information, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
中国 长沙 国防科技大学 量子信息学科交叉中心
³ State Key Laboratory of Pulsed Power Laser Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
中国 长沙 国防科技大学 脉冲功率激光技术国家重点实验室
⁴ Nanhu Laser Laboratory, Changsha 410073, China
中国 长沙 南湖之光实验室
Since the first laser was invented, the pursuit of high-energy lasers (HELs) has always been enthusiastic. The first revolution of HELs was pushed by the fusion of laser and aerospace in the 1960s, with the chemical rocket engines giving fresh impetus to the birth of gas flow and chemical lasers, which finally turned megawatt lasers from dream into reality.
Nowadays, the development of HELs has entered the age of electricity as well as the rocket engines. The properties of current electric rocket engines are highly consistent with HELs' goals, including electrical driving, effective heat dissipation, little medium consumption and extremely light weight and size, which inspired a second fusion of laser and aerospace and motivated the exploration for potential HELs.
As an exploratory attempt, a new configuration of diode pumped metastable rare gas laser was demonstrated, with the gain generator resembling an electric rocket-engine for improved power scaling ability.
