The monitoring and study of the earth�s atmosphere is becoming an increasingly important task given the current uncertainties in climate prediction. Areas where lidar has been used to further understanding of the atmosphere include monitoring of greenhouse gases, global warming, stratospheric ozone depletion, photochemical smog and aerosol photochemistry. However, the potentially severe long term effects of anthropogenic aerosols on earth�s biosphere are poorly understood. This project seeks to apply state of the art laser technology to develop an innovative multiwavelength lidar system capable of providing new information and new insights into the field of tropospheric aerosol lidar.
Several novel tunable laser and laser-like sources have been investigated and developed for the purpose of tropospheric aerosol lidar at The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa), Central Otago. Multiwavelength operation in the visible and near infrared portion of the spectrum has been emphasised with the sources developed collectively spanning the wavelength interval of 400-1369 nm. The laser sources investigated were the LiF:F2+ colour centre, Titanium Sapphire (Ti:sapphire) and barium nitrate Raman lasers. In addition to the laser sources, the β-barium borate optical parametric oscillator (BBO OPO) was characterised. For each of the sources, lidar relevant aspects were studied. The results recorded include conversion efficiency with respect to the pump source, linewidth and tuning characteristics, beam quality, temporal behaviour, and device reliability and ruggedness.
It was found that the LiF:F2+ laser offered significantly lower threshold, broader tuning and higher output pulse energies than the Ti:sapphire laser in the 900-1000 nm region. The high optical gain of the LiF:F2+ medium facilitated cavity optical alignment and operation of the system. The high gain also resulted in temporal behaviour well suited to the existing Niwa lidar detection scheme. When using a 5 ns pump source, amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) was found to limit the laser tuning range and efficiency.
The barium nitrate Raman laser was based on a simple linear cavity arrangement which resulted in a compact and robust device with no moving components. The stimulated Raman scattering process offers relatively narrow linewidth laser operation at the first and second Stokes wavelengths of 1197 nm and 1369 nm respectively. This laser offered efficient operation once the high operation threshold was reached. Second harmonic generation was used to extend the number of potential lidar transmitter lines produced. The barium nitrate Raman laser possessed high beam divergence and a maximum of three discrete transmitter wavelengths.
The BBO OPO used a type I collinear signal resonant configuration. A plane-plane cavity configuration with pump reflection was found to provide simplicity of design, low threshold, highly efficient operation and output pointing stability. The BBO OPO signal wavelength could be tuned over the wavelength interval of 400-700 nm. The disadvantage of the plane cavity was high output beam divergence. However, this was successfully brought within the required limits through the use of a 40 mm long cavity in conjunction with an expanding and collimating telescope.
As a result of the study, a Tunable lidar Transmitter (TLT) system based on the BBO OPO was designed and constructed at the Physics Department. The TLT was computer-controlled using custom written software and constructed in a self contained modular manner with all required mechanical, electrical and optical components. A user manual was also written to accompany the TLT. The TLT was installed at Niwa and was successfully used to gather preliminary multiwavelength lidar data.
The TLT BBO OPO threshold occurred for a pump energy of 5.2 mJ (10.6 MW/cm2) and had a maximum slope efficiency of 53%. Signal efficiency varied from 24-41-35% over the intervals of 410-500-600 nm. A maximum signal energy of 21 mJ was obtained for a signal wavelength of 492 nm when using the maximum available pump energy of 42 mJ. OPO signal linewidth varied from 0.1-1-8 nm over the signal wavelength intervals of 400-600-700 nm. The associated OPO finesse varied between 370 and 100 as the signal wavelength was tuned over the wavelength interval of 400-600 nm. The temporal behaviour of the BBO OPO was a slowly varying function of pump energy and closely followed the temporal behaviour of the pump laser, making it well suited to the existing Italian lidar detection and timing scheme.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/217572 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Rawle, Christopher B., n/a |
| Publisher | University of Otago. Department of Physics |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://policy01.otago.ac.nz/policies/FMPro?-db=policies.fm&-format=viewpolicy.html&-lay=viewpolicy&-sortfield=Title&Type=Academic&-recid=33025&-find), Copyright Christopher B. Rawle |
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