Compact Megawatt Infrared Free-Electron Laser Amplifier

The optical path within the amplifier would be <5 m long.

A proposed high-gain free-electron laser (FEL) amplifier, conceived primarily for use in a maritime environment, would be capable of average output power of the order of a megawatt at one or more of several infrared wavelengths (1.045, 1.625, or 2.141 μm) for which propagation through air is minimally adversely affected by water vapor and aerosols. The conceptual design of this FEL amplifier provides for a combination of conventional and unconventional characteristics that, taken together, would be advantageous in the intended power and wavelength regime.