This paper describes the laser transmitter assembly used in the ALADIN instrument currently in C/D development phase for the ESA ADM-AEOLUS mission (EADS Astrium as prime contractor for the satellite and the instrument).
The Laser Transmitter Assembly (TXA), based on a diode pumped tripled Nd:YAG laser, is used to generate tunable laser pulses of 150 mJ at a nominal wavelength of 355 nm. This laser is operated in burst mode, with a pulse repetition cycle of 100 Hz.
The TXA is composed of the following units: a diodepumped CW Nd:YAG Laser named Reference Laser Head (RLH), used to inject a diode-pumped, Q-switched, amplified and frequency tripled Nd:YAG Laser working in the third harmonic referred as Power Laser Head (PLH) and a Transmitter Laser Electronics (TLE) containing all the control and power electronics needed for PLH and RLH operation.
The TXA is made by an European consortium under the leadership of Galileo Avionica (It), and including CESI (It), Quantel (Fr), TESAT (Ge) and Thales (Fr).
The present highly competitive state of the PV industry is putting the pressure on both crystalline and thin film
manufactures to deploy advanced architectures as a means to differentiate their products and protect market share. c-Si back side contact passivation, selective emitter opening and selective emitter doping are three efficiency improving
processes that can utilize lasers that the industry is rapidly moving to adopt. Emitter Wrap Through (EWT) is another
advanced architecture which will likely see adoption in the coming years for which lasers are a critical component of the process. Improved laser TCO patterning is of interest not only for CdTe solar cells but also for display and other micro electronics applications. Laser processing results for these various solar PV materials are presented both in terms of performance, materials science, and morphology as they relate to temporal characteristics of the laser pulse.