CEDAR: An Operational CW Solid-State Laser System for Temperature and Wind Measurements in the Mesopause

现有的安装在科罗拉多州立大学的钠激光雷达对中层顶区的温度分布进行了重要的地球物理测量。这种发射机的一个重要元件是稳定的窄带连续激光光束，它为高功率脉冲染料放大器提供种子。目前的装置由一台氩离子激光器和一台单模环形染料激光器组成，具有探索性系统所需的多功能性，但对空间、功率和维护要求过高。因此，沙漠研究所正在开发一种紧凑型固态连续波光源。PI将通过以下方式将该固态光源改造成可操作的便携式单元：(1)将其安装在带外壳的小型光学面板上，使机械和光学设置更加坚固；(2)开发简单快速的调谐和锁定程序，以将输出波长稳定在无多普勒的钠光谱特征上；以及(3)在CSU测试和使用该系统与现有的钠激光雷达。

An existing sodium lidar, installed at Colorado State University, makes significant geophysical measurements of temperature profiles in the mesopause region. An important element of this transmitter is a stable, narrowband cw laser beam that seeds the high power pulsed dye amplifier. The present unit, consisting of an argon-ion laser and single-mode ring dye laser, has the versatility required of an exploratory system, but has excessive space, power and maintenance requirements. Thus, a compact, solid-state cw light source is being developed at the Desert Research Institute. The PI will modify this solid state light source into an operational, portable unit by (1) mounting it on a small optical breadboard with enclosure, making the mechanical and optical setup more rugged; (2) developing simple and fast tuning and locking procedure to stabilize the output wavelength to Doppler free features of the sodium spectrum; and (3) testing and using the system in conjunction with the existing sodium lidar at CSU.