Abstract

To reduce water vapor and carbon dioxide from the optical path of the halogen occultation experiment, the optical path was enclosed with a low-hygroscopic material, and the enclosure was filled with nitrogen. This resulted in an elimination of carbon dioxide, and a reduction of the relative humidity inside the enclosure to <1%. Several different systems are described, including one where the purge system allows calibration gas cells and a polarizer to be placed at will in the optical path while maintaining the integrity of the purged optical path.

© 1986 Optical Society of America