Determination Of A Variable-Spacing Array's Applicability As The NASA Advanced Communication Test Satellite Intersatellite Communication System Transmitter

Peter L. Fuhr; Frederic M. Davidson

doi:10.1117/12.7977920

1 March 1988 Determination Of A Variable-Spacing Array's Applicability As The NASA Advanced Communication Test Satellite Intersatellite Communication System Transmitter

Peter L. Fuhr, Frederic M. Davidson

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Optical Engineering, Vol. 27, Issue 3, 273238 (March 1988). https://doi.org/10.1117/12.7977920

Abstract

Direct detection free-space optical communication using laser diode transmitters has been proposed for use on NASA's Advanced Communication Test Satellite (ACTS). The investigation reported here examines a prototype laser diode array for this purpose, having a variable spacing between the emitter stripes (VSA). The device was designed to output a moderately powerful beam into a narrower single-lobed radi-ation pattern than that of the (currently) more powerful regular-spacing phase-locked arrays (RSAs). Key parameters were measured to determine whether the VSA would be a good candidate for use in the ACTS system. Measurements showed a superior electrical frequency response, superior impulse response, and a slightly narrower far-field radiation pattern compared with the RSA. However, the limited output power of the VSA realistically precludes its use in a free-space optical communication system even when a polarization beam-combining system is used.

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Peter L. Fuhr and Frederic M. Davidson "Determination Of A Variable-Spacing Array's Applicability As The NASA Advanced Communication Test Satellite Intersatellite Communication System Transmitter," Optical Engineering 27(3), 273238 (1 March 1988). https://doi.org/10.1117/12.7977920

Published: 1 March 1988

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KEYWORDS

Telecommunications

Satellite communications

Satellites

Transmitters

Free space optical communications

Semiconductor lasers

Polarization

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