LASER POINTER SYSTEM FOR DAY AND NIGHT USE

A novel eye-safe, long range laser pointer system for use in day or night conditions is described. The system uses a short pulse laser and a gated camera to detect the laser spot at long ranges in the presence of a strong solar background. The camera gate is synchronized with incident laser pulses using a separate large area, fast photodiode to detect the high peak power pulses. Alternately, gate synchronization using a GPS-disciplined clock can be used. Eye-safe systems operating in the near-UV or SWIR band are described.