High-power broadband frequency chirped intensity-modulated single-frequency 1064-nm laser

Optical carried microwave radar (OCMR), combining the advantages of lidar and microwave radar, uses an intensity-modulated laser beam as the medium to detect the distance and velocity of objects. In order to achieve a high ranging resolution at long distance, a high-power frequency chirped intensity-modulated light source at a 1064-nm wavelength was developed. A low-power narrow-linewidth 1064-nm laser beam was input to a Mach-Zehnder electro-optic modulator (EOM), and the frequency of the EOM was tuned from 10 MHz to 2.1 GHz. The output from the EOM was coupled to a laser-diode-pumped ytterbium-doped fiber amplifier (YDFA). A maximum output power of 29.5 W was achieved from the YDFA. We measured the frequency characteristics of the modulated laser beams before and after amplification, respectively. The amplification process did not bring any obvious degeneration of the modulation in terms of the bandwidth, frequency stability, chirping linearity, and modulation depth. Our research presents a new approach of obtaining a high-power broad-band intensity-modulated light source for OCMR.