LADAR Development and Evaluation Research Facility (LDERF)

The optics laboratories have four optical workbenches on isolated slabs of cement in two separate rooms. An indoor range allows LADAR experiments in a controlled environment. Motorized doors provide convenient access to the outdoor range. Numerous lasers are available for LADAR integration or other experiments, ranging from low power CW HeNe lasers to high pulse energy diode-pumped solid state lasers at a variety of wavelengths. Current research efforts at the LDERF utilize active imaging LADAR systems operating at wavelengths from the visible through the near infrared. The performance of optical detectors such as the avalanche photodiode (APD) can be characterized in the optics laboratories.