Collaborative Research: Approaching "Ultimate" Lidar for Temperature and Wind Measurements in the Mesopause Region (CEDAR)

这是科罗拉多州立大学和内华达大学的一个联合项目，旨在为现有的钠共振激光雷达开发一种固态连续（cw）波激光器。现有激光雷达的一个基本要素是一个稳定的、可调谐的、窄带的连续波激光束，它为高功率脉冲染料放大器提供种子。目前的装置使用的氩激光管非常大，更换起来也很昂贵。固态系统使用两个市售的连续波YAG激光器，一个工作在1.06微米，另一个工作在1.32微米，这两个激光器组合在一起产生589纳米的光，这是原子钠的共振散射发射线。这种改进将减小激光雷达的尺寸和复杂性，从而降低操作成本，使其更容易移动到不同的位置。研究人员还建议开发一种双峰声光调制器，以更快地锁定钠光谱中的特定多普勒自由特征。这将使测量中层大气特性的时间分辨率比目前的系统高得多。内华达大学将负责研究和开发连续波和频率产生的589纳米辐射。科罗拉多州立大学将负责开发双峰声光调制器。

This is a joint project between Colorado State University and the University of Nevada to develop a solid state continuous (cw) wave laser for an existing sodium resonance lidar. An essential element of the existing lidar is a stable, tunable, narrowband, cw laser beam that seeds the high power pulsed dye amplifier. The present unit uses an argon laser tube that is very large and expensive to replace. The solid state system uses two commercially available cw YAG lasers, one operating at 1.06 micrometers and the other at 1.32 micrometers which are combined to produce light at 589 nm, a resonantly scattered emission line of atomic sodium. This modification will reduce the size and complexity of the lidar to reduce operating costs and make it more easily moved to different locations. The investigators also propose to develop a twin-peak acoustooptic modulator for more rapid locking to specific Doppler- free features in the sodium spectrum. This will enable measurements of middle atmospheric properties with much higher time resolution than the present system. The University of Nevada will be in charge of the research and development of the cw sum- frequency generation of 589 nm radiation. Colorado State University will be responsible for development of the twin-peak acousto-optic modulator.