AUTHOR=Fan Zhongwei , Liu Xiaopeng , Zhang Zhongping , Meng Wendong , Long Mingliang , Bai Zhenao 

TITLE=10 kHz repetition rate picosecond green laser for high-accuracy satellite ranging

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physics

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physics/articles/10.3389/fphy.2022.1115330

DOI=10.3389/fphy.2022.1115330

ISSN=2296-424X

ABSTRACT=<p>Picosecond pulse laser is the main light source for satellite laser ranging. In this paper, a 10 kHz repetition rate picosecond green laser with an average output power of 5.3 W is demonstrated. The laser generates a pulse width of 18.6 ps at a center wavelength of 532.20 nm with a spectral width of .066 nm. The beam quality is well preserved with <italic>M</italic><sup>2</sup> of 1.1 with the beam divergence measured to be .62 mrad and pointing stability of 7 μrad over 30 min of operation. The laser system was then applied to measure the BeiDou satellite (Compass-I3) and generated a single range accuracy of 3.2 mm, which is the highest reported range accuracy for synchronous orbit satellite laser ranging.</p>