Abstract

A complete study of a double-pulsed dual-wavelength dye laser system for water vapor and ozone measurement by DIAL technique is presented. Generation of a sequential laser emission at the on- and off-line wavelength with a time delay of < 1 ms was undertaken under a joint NASA/CNES program to define an autonomous DIAL system for operation on a high-altitude aircraft (NASA-ER-2). The tunable narrow-line dye laser developed by CNES is made of a dual-wavelength oscillator followed by a four-stage single-pass amplifier. Switching between the on- and off-lines is achieved using an intracavity Pockels cell. A grazing incidence grating allows a wide wavelength tuning and line narrowing <2 pm. The specifications for the oscillator are derived from sensitivity studies of each intracavity element. The double-pulse excitation at 532 nm is provided by two synchronized Nd:YAG lasers. Emitted energy in the second dye laser pulse was studied as a function of excitation energy in the first pulse and delay, for the two different dyes; rhodamine 6G and carbazine 122. Amplified spontaneous emission dependence on the oscillator energy and detuning away from gain curve center is demonstrated.

© 1985 Optical Society of America