A high energy flashlamp-pump Ti:sapphire laser has been developed. Pulse energies up to 1200 mJ have been obtained at a repetition rate of 10 Hz. Laser tuning (700 nm to 1050 nm) is achieved by a 4-plate Lyot-filter, with a bandwidth of 0.3 nm. Q-switching has also been performed to improve the temporal (spatial) resolution, with 300 mJ output in 20 nS. These unique specifications are extremely attractive for lidar applications. A flashlamp-pumped Ti:sapphire based lidar system has been used for several multispectral investigations such as measurements of volcanic aerosols and PSCs in the polar stratosphere during the EASOE campaign. Promising applicataion of Ti:sapphire lasers, like measurements of humidity in the troposphere and the stratosphere, are presented. UV-DIAL applications for pollution monitoring using frequency-doubling-tripling or mixing are also discussed.

Date Published: 17 December 1992
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 1714, Lidar for Remote Sensing, (17 December 1992); doi: 10.1117/12.138535

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1714:
Lidar for Remote Sensing
Richard J. Becherer; Christian Werner, Editor(s)