These short courses were offered in conjunction with the Sixteenth Annual Directed Energy Symposium, held 10-14 March 2014 in Huntsville, Alabama. Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credits were awarded upon successful completion of these DEPS short courses.
Course 1. Introduction to High Energy Laser Systems Classification: Unclassified, Public Release Instructor: John Wachs, Schafer Duration: Half-day course, starts at 0800 CEUs awarded: 0.35 Course Description: This lecture will introduce the field of HEL weapons and their associated technologies using an interweaving of technical requirements, history, and accomplishments. The basic attributes of HEL weapons will be covered, leading into discussions of laser-material interaction, lethality, potential weapon applications, system requirements, laser power scaling, propagation, and beam control. DoD interest in tactical applications, current technical issues, and areas of research emphasis will be highlighted. Intended Audience: This course is geared to those with a technical background who seek an overview of HEL technology and the current state of the art. Individuals who are beginning to work in the field or technical managers who wish an integrated overview would benefit from the class. Instructor Biography: Mr. John Wachs worked as a civilian employee for the Army in Huntsville, AL during his entire 42 year career, which was devoted to directed energy (DE) research and development. The first part of his career focused on field testing of high energy laser devices. For the remainder of his career, Mr. Wachs managed the development and testing of DE systems for both tactical and strategic military applications. Since his retirement from Army civilian service in 2010, he has provided part time support to the High Energy Laser Joint Technology Office through Schafer Corporation as a greybeard advisor.
Course 2. Windows and Coatings for HEL Systems Classification: Unclassified, Public Release Instructor: Bill Decker, Defense Acquisition University Duration: Half-day course, starts at 0800 CEUs awarded: 0.35 Course Description: The student will understand the possible alternatives for Windows and Coatings for HEL Systems and sources to obtain the optical materials and coating services. Topics include:
Intended Audience: This course will benefit those working in the high energy laser community, with a general background in optics. Technical and managerial people will benefit from the course. Instructor Biography: William M. Decker is a Professor of Engineering Management at Defense Acquisition University. He also is a consultant to Heraeus Quartz America, a manufacturer of fused quartz and fused silica. Mr. Decker served 20 years in the U.S. Army, followed by 15 years in the optics industry prior to joining DAU. He currently serves on the DEPS Board of Directors as the Secretary. Mr. Decker's 35 years' experience in optics and lasers provides the foundation for this short course.
Course 3. Predictive Avoidance Classification: Unclassified, Limited Distribution C (Restricted to employees of the U.S. Government or its contractors) Instructor: Duration: Half-day course, starts at 0800 CEUs awarded: 0.35 Course Description: This course is intended to teach the "Why, Who, What, How and What's New" of Predictive Avoidance (PA) - the process by which space assets are protected from accidental illumination by lasers. Airspace Deconfliction (AD) - protecting air assets - will also be mentioned but not in any significant detail. PA and AD are critical pieces of the testing process for DoD and NSA laser systems and a knowledgeable and proactive approach by the testing organization can maximize test windows and minimize frustration. The goal of this course is to familiarize the student with the reasons behind PA, the process for working with the Laser Clearing House (LCH) as well as tools and points of contact available to hopefully simplify and clarify the process. In addition the course will cover efforts in the community to standardize the process and make the safety requirements more in line with current probabilistic risk assessment methodology. Topics to be covered include:
Intended Audience: Anyone who is currently involved or anticipates involvement in laser testing will benefit from this course. Test planners and managers as well as those technically involved with the testing are welcome. Instructor Biographies: LeAnn Brasure works for Schafer Corporation supporting the HEL JTO as part of their technical team. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a BS in Physics. After completing four years of ROTC she was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force. She obtained a Masters Degree in nuclear physics through the Air Force Institute of Technology and retired from the Air Force after 24 years of active duty service. During her active duty time she had assignments including WSMC (Vandenberg AFB), AFTAC (Patrick AFB) as well as a physics instructor at the Air Force Academy. She began to focus on solid state lasers during her assignment as an AFRL Laboratory Representative at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Her last assignment was with AFRL at Kirtland AFB as the Solid State Laser Branch Chief. Her role as a part of the HEL JTO team is to monitor current and help define new technology development programs such as the JTO's Predictive Avoidance and Airspace Deconfliction effort. Heather (Lehmann) Witts is the Deputy Chief of the DE Branch of the JFCC SPACE/J95 Unified Space Vault. In that role she is primarily responsible for carrying out the Laser Clearinghouse mission. She was accepted into the Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate (NuPOC) Program in 2001 and graduated from Luther College with a BA in Math and Physics in May 2003. She received her commission in December 2003, completed sea tours on USS IWO JIMA and USS DWIGHT D EISENHOWER, and passed the nuclear engineers exam. In August 2008, then LT Lehmann reported to JFCC SPACE/J95 at Vandenberg AFB as Deputy Chief of the Directed Energy Branch where she spent most of her time dedicated to carrying out the LCH mission. In late 2010 she transitioned out of the active force, into the Navy Reserves, and became an AF civilian - remaining in a similar position at JFCC SPACE. She obtained a Masters Degree in Engineering Management and was married in 2011. Ms Witts is presently the primary point of contact for the LCH mission.
Course 4. Introduction to Free Electron Lasers Classification: Unclassified, Public Release Instructors: Duration: Full-day course, starts at 0800 CEUs awarded: 0.70 Course Description: The purpose of this course is to introduce the audience to the basics of free electron lasers driven by radio-frequency linear accelerators, and to the FEL simulation and validation techniques. Basic topics to be covered include fundamental concepts of laser and electron beam physics, electron motions in an undulator, undulator radiation, FEL gain and various FEL architectures. Comprehensive discussion of FEL simulation fundamentals and applications will be discussed in both the one-dimensional and three-dimensional regimes. Examples will be given for various FEL configurations and compared with experiments to demonstrate the validity of the FEL simulations. Intended Audience: Prerequisites for this short course include undergraduate courses in calculus and electromagnetism. Some understanding of numerical computations will be helpful. Instructor Biography: Dinh Nguyen received a B.S. in Chemistry from Indiana University, Bloomington in 1979 and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1984. Since joining Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1984, he has done pioneering work in laser-induced fluorescence single molecule detection, up-conversion solid-state lasers, RF photoinjectors, semiconductor photocathodes, Smith-Purcell electron bunch diagnostics, Compton backscattered x-rays and high-gain amplifier FEL concepts. One of the high-gain amplifier FEL concepts that he first demonstrated, the self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE), is the basis of today’s x-ray FEL. His current interest includes high-power FEL, high-average-current RF injectors, advanced photocathodes and x-ray FEL. Dinh Nguyen is a member of the American Physical Society, the International FEL Conference Program Committee, and the FEL Technology Area Working Group. He has published more than 70 refereed journal articles and numerous conference papers. Dr. Stephen Milton first began exploring particle accelerator technologies in 1980. Since then he has worked, designed, or constructed a broad range of machines ranging from electron/positron colliders to proton machines for hadron therapy, to general purpose synchrotron light sources, to free-electron lasers and all sub-systems associated with these machines. His experience includes working in the national laboratory system, within industry, and twice for extended periods of time with organizations in Europe. Currently he is the Director of the FERMI@elettra FEL project in Trieste Italy and also devotes a fraction of his time to Argonne National Laboratory where his primary focus is on the design of high-power directed energy sources.
Course 5. Introduction to High Power Semiconductor Lasers for Directed Energy Applications We regret that this course has been canceled.
Course 6. Introduction to High Power Microwave Systems Classification: Unclassified, Limited Distribution C Instructor: Mark Rader, NRL Duration: Half-day course, starts at 1300 CEUs awarded: 0.35 Course Description: This course will provide an introduction to RF Directed Energy weapons, also known as High Power Microwave (HPM) weapons. The course consists of four parts: 1) a general introduction to the basic terms and concepts, 2) a discussion of the varous types of effects that can be induced and how they are characterized, 3) the technologies that enable RF-DEW weaponization, and 4) hardening techniques and technologies. At the end of the class, students will know what RF-DEWs are and how they differ from classical Electronic Warfare and nuclear EMP. Students will learn the various ways in which microwaves couple into a target (i.e., front door/back door, in-band/out-of-band) and some of the many sorts of effects that they can precipitate. Technology discussions will show the difference between narrow band (NB) and ultra-wide band (UWB) sources, antennas and diagnostics, as well as the principal elements of the power systems needed to support them. The course concludes with a discussion of hardening techniques and technologies. Topics to be covered include:
Intended Audience: Newcomers to the field of RF-DEW or managers with some background in science and engineering will benefit the most from this course. Instructor Biography:
Course 7. Diffraction and Laser Beams Classification: Unclassified, Public Release Instructor: Yakov Soskind, DHPC Technologies Duration: Half-day course, starts at 1300 CEUs awarded: 0.35 Course Description: This course will provide an overview of recent developments in the fields of diffractive optics and laser beams, with an emphasis on engineering aspects and practical applications. The instructor will provide a qualitative explanation of the phenomena by the use of field distributions and graphs, establishing the basis for understanding of the fundamental relations and the important trends. The presented material has relevancy to a broad range of directed energy laser applications, including laser weapons and countermeasures, LIDARs, laser rangefinders, etc. Topics to be covered include:
Intended Audience: This course is intended for students, engineers, scientists, service members, and managers who are involved in the design and development of laser-based instrumentation, or are interested in understanding the physical principles, practical limitations, and engineering trade-offs associated with the formation, shaping, combining, propagation, and control of optical and laser radiation. Instructor Biography: Dr. Soskind is Photonics Development Manager with DHPC Technologies, Inc., leading development of unique laser-based and electro-optical instrumentation. He has more than 30 years of successful contributions to the field of optical engineering, developing laser systems, fiber-optics and photonics instrumentation, diffractive and micro-optics, and imaging and illumination devices. Dr. Soskind is the author of "Field Guide to Diffractive Optics", SPIE Press, 2011, and has been awarded more than 20 domestic and international patents in the field of photonics.
Course 8. Introduction to High Energy Laser Lethality Science Classification: Unclassified, Limited Distribution C (Restricted to employees of the U.S. Government or its contractors) Instructors: Duration: Half-day course, starts at 1300 CEUs awarded: 0.35 Course Description: The course is intended as an overview of lethality science. The course will describe the role of lethality science in the systems engineering process and the mathematical and physical foundation of lethality science related to the interaction of High Energy Lasers with aerospace materials with emphasis on metals, composites, and surface effects. A brief description of available resources for follow on activity is provided. Topics to be covered include:
Intended Audience: Those working in the fields of System Engineering and Laser Vulnerability should benefit from the course. Others interested in understanding the effects of High Energy Lasers on materials should also benefit. Instructor Biographies: Mr. LaMar leads the U.S. Army High Energy Laser Lethality program. As such, Mr. LaMar led the Directed Energy Alternative system engineering for the recent U.S. Army Analysis of Alternatives. He is also the program manager for the Army’s Solid State Laser Tesbed, a facility dedicated to lethality and propagation studies for High Energy Lasers. In addition, he represents the Army on the JTO Lethality and Beam Control TAWG. He has written over 50 professional papers and publications in the field of High Energy Lasers. Robert Cozzens received a B.S. degree in chemistry in 1963 and a Ph.D. degree in physical chemistry in 1966 from the University of Virginia. He is a Full Professor of Chemistry at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA and a Senior Research Scientist (Intermittent) at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. Dr. Cozzens has been involved for more than 35 years in the interaction of laser radiation with materials, including polymeric composites, metals, coatings, ceramics and laser protection of eyes and electro-optic sensors. He has published and presented numerous research papers and technical reports and serves as consultant and expert witness with law firms. Dr. Cozzens is a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS), Chemical Society of Washington, Directed Energy Professional Society, Virginia Academy of Science, and other professional organizations. He has held several local and national elected offices within the ACS.
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