The aim of this research is to design and construct a
semiconductor laser range finder operating in the near infrared range
for ranging and designation. The main part of the range finder is the
transmitter which is a semiconductor laser type GaAs of wavelength
0.904 μm with a beam expander and the receiver; a silicon pin
detector biased to approve the fast response time with it's collecting
optics. The transmitters pulse width was 200ns at a threshold current
of 10 Ampere and maximum operating current of 38 Ampere. The
repetition rate was set at 660Hz and the maximum operating output
power was around 1 watt. The divergence of the beam was 0.268o
the efficiency of the laser was 0.03% at a duty cycle of 1.32x10-4.
Special software (ZEMAX EE 2000) was implemented for optimum
optical design.