1.645†µm Er:YAG single-mode dual-wavelength emitter for CH4 differential absorption lidar.

We present a hybrid fiber/bulk laser source at 1.645 µm designed for methane (CH4) monitoring using differential absorption lidar (DIAL) measurements in the atmosphere. The emitter is also suited for coherent wind Doppler lidar. It relies on a Q-switched Er:YAG ring cavity pumped by erbium fiber lasers at 1532 nm. The pulsed laser is sequentially seeded by two fiber-coupled CW distributed feedback (DFB) laser diodes in the center of the CH4 line multiplet at 1645.55 nm (ON wavelength) and out of at 1645.30 nm (OFF wavelength). Despite a gain difference in the crystal between the ON and OFF wavelengths, pulses with equal energies and durations (9 mJ/300 ns) are obtained at a rate of 1 kHz. The spectral stability and purity properties in the dual-wavelength operating regime are presented.

Hybrid fiber/bulk laser source designed for CO2 and wind measurements at 2.05 µm: publisher's note.

This publisher's note contains a correction to Opt. Lett.49, 969 (2024)10.1364/OL.510598.

Hybrid fiber/bulk laser source designed for CO2 and wind measurements at 2.05†µm.

We present a hybrid fiber/bulk laser source designed for CO2 and wind monitoring using differential absorption LIDAR (DIAL) and coherent detection at 2.05 µm. This source features a master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) architecture made of four fiber stages and one single-pass, end-pumped, bulk amplifier. This Letter focuses on the single-pass bulk amplifier performance and on the hybrid architecture benefits for DIAL and coherent detection. The bulk material is a holmium-doped YLF crystal that provides high efficiency amplification at 2.05 µm. This laser offers an energy breakthrough as compared to the classical stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) limit encountered in a fiber laser without compromising robustness, thanks to very few free-space optical elements and a small optical path. It delivers pulse energy and repetition frequency of 9.0 or 1.2 mJ/20 kHz with 200 ns quasi Fourier-transform limited pulses.

2.05-µm all-fiber laser source designed for CO2 and wind coherent lidar measurement.

This work reports on an all-fiber pulsed laser source for simultaneous remote sensing of CO2 concentration and wind velocity in the 2.05 µm region. The source is based on a polarization-maintaining master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) architecture. Two narrow-linewidth master oscillators for ON-line/OFF-line CO2 differential absorption lidar operation alternately seed a four-stage amplifier chain at a fast switching rate up to 20 kHz. The MOPA architecture delivers laser pulses of 120 µJ energy, 200 ns duration (600 W peak power) at 20 kHz pulse repetition rate (2.4 W average power). The output linewidth is lower than 5 MHz, close to the pulse Fourier transform limit, and the beam quality factor is M2=1.12. The source also provides a pre-amplified 20 mW local oscillator with a relative intensity noise of -160dB/Hz that ensures optimal performance for future coherent detection.

2-µm double-pulse single-frequency Tm:fiber laser pumped Ho:YLF laser for a space-borne CO2 lidar.

In the framework of space-borne CO2 lidar development, the transmitter is a critical unit. We report on the development and the assessment of performances of a 2-µm single-frequency thulium fiber laser pumped Q-switched Ho:YLF laser. To fulfill the requirements of space-based operation, a master oscillator power amplifier architecture has been chosen, and the oscillator works in double-pulse operation. The transmitter can generate a single-mode dual wavelength emission "ON" and "OFF" around the R30e line of the 20013←00001 band of CO212. It delivers a pair of OFF-ON pulses with 12 mJ and 42 mJ energy, respectively, at a pulse repetition frequency of 303.5 Hz. The pulse energy and central frequency stabilities are especially documented as well as pulse duration, polarization, overall efficiency, beam quality, pointing stability, and spectral purity. The possible limitations by light-induced damage or radiation-induced attenuation on the laser performances are also evaluated.

Evaluation of a HgCdTe e-APD based detector for 2 µm CO2 DIAL application.

Benefiting from close to ideal amplification properties (high gain, low dark current, and low excess noise factor), HgCdTe electron initiated avalanche photodiode (e-APD) technology exhibits state of the art sensitivity, thus being especially relevant for applications relying on low light level detection, such as LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging). In addition, the tunable gap of the Hg1-xCdxTe alloy enables coverage of the short wavelength infrared (SWIR) and especially the 2 µm spectral range. For these two reasons, a HgCdTe e-APD based detector is a promising candidate for future differential absorption LIDAR missions targeting greenhouse gas absorption bands in SWIR. In this study, we report on the design and evaluation of such a HgCdTe e-APD based detector. The first part focuses on detector architecture and performance. Key figures of merit are: 2.8 µm cutoff wavelength, 200 µm diameter almost circular sensitive area, 185 K operating temperature (thermo-electric cooling), 22 APD gain (at 12 V reverse bias), 360 kΩ transimpedance gain, and 60 fWHz-0.5 noise equivalent power (at 12 V reverse bias). The second part presents an analysis of atmospheric LIDAR signals obtained by mounting the HgCdTe e-APD based detector on the 2 µm differential absorption LIDAR developed at the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique and dedicated to CO2 monitoring. Discussion emphasizes random and systematic errors in LIDAR measurements regarding breadboard detector characterization. In particular, we investigate the influence of parasitic tails in detector impulse response on short range DIAL measurements.

Laser diode absorption spectroscopy for accurate CO(2) line parameters at 2 microm: consequences for space-based DIAL measurements and potential biases.

Space-based active sensing of CO(2) concentration is a very promising technique for the derivation of CO(2) surface fluxes. There is a need for accurate spectroscopic parameters to enable accurate space-based measurements to address global climatic issues. New spectroscopic measurements using laser diode absorption spectroscopy are presented for the preselected R30 CO(2) absorption line ((20(0)1)(III)<--(000) band) and four others. The line strength, air-broadening halfwidth, and its temperature dependence have been investigated. The results exhibit significant improvement for the R30 CO(2) absorption line: 0.4% on the line strength, 0.15% on the air-broadening coefficient, and 0.45% on its temperature dependence. Analysis of potential biases of space-based DIAL CO(2) mixing ratio measurements associated to spectroscopic parameter uncertainties are presented.

Inter-comparison of 2 microm Heterodyne Differential Absorption Lidar, Laser Diode Spectrometer, LICOR NDIR analyzer and flasks measurements of near-ground atmospheric CO2 mixing ratio.

Remote sensing and in situ instruments are presented and compared in the same location for accurate CO(2) mixing ratio measurements in the atmosphere: (1) a 2.064 microm Heterodyne DIfferential Absorption Lidar (HDIAL), (2) a field deployable infrared Laser Diode Spectrometer (LDS) using new commercial diode laser technology at 2.68 microm, (3) LICOR NDIR analyzer and (4) flasks. LDS, LICOR and flasks measurements were made in the same location, LICOR and flasks being taken as reference. Horizontal HDIAL measurements of CO(2) absorption using aerosol backscatter signal are reported. Using new spectroscopic data in the 2 microm band and meteorological sensor measurements, a mean CO(2) mixing ratio is inferred by the HDIAL in a 1 km long path above the 15m height location of the CO(2) in situ sensors. We compare HDIAL and LDS measurements with the LICOR data for 30 min of time averaging. The mean standard deviation of the HDIAL and the LDS CO(2) mixing ratio results are 3.3 ppm and 0.89 ppm, respectively. The bias of the HDIAL and the LDS measurements are -0.54 ppm and -0.99 ppm, respectively.

An a posteriori method based on photo-acoustic cell information to correct for lidar transmitter spectral shift: application to atmospheric CO(2) differential absorption lidar measurements.

An a posteriori corrective method based on photo-acoustic cell (PAC) information is proposed to correct for laser transmitter spectral shift during atmospheric CO(2) measurements by 2 microm heterodyne differential absorption lidar (HDIAL) technique. The method for using the PAC signal to retrieve the actual atmospheric CO(2) absorption is presented in detail. This issue is tackled using a weighting function. The performance of the proposed corrective method is discussed and the various sources of error associated with the PAC signal are investigated. For 300 shots averaged and a frequency shift (from the CO(2) absorption line center) lower than the CO(2) absorption line half-width, the relative error on HDIAL CO(2) mixing ratio measurements is lower than 1.3%. The corrective method is validated in absolute value by comparison between HDIAL and in situ sensor measurements of CO(2).

Side-line tunable laser transmitter for differential absorption lidar measurements of CO2: design and application to atmospheric measurements.

A 2 microm wavelength, 90 mJ, 5 Hz pulsed Ho laser is described with wavelength control to precisely tune and lock the wavelength at a desired offset up to 2.9 GHz from the center of a CO(2) absorption line. Once detuned from the line center the laser wavelength is actively locked to keep the wavelength within 1.9 MHz standard deviation about the setpoint. This wavelength control allows optimization of the optical depth for a differential absorption lidar (DIAL) measuring atmospheric CO(2) concentrations. The laser transmitter has been coupled with a coherent heterodyne receiver for measurements of CO(2) concentration using aerosol backscatter; wind and aerosols are also measured with the same lidar and provide useful additional information on atmospheric structure. Range-resolved CO(2) measurements were made with <2.4% standard deviation using 500 m range bins and 6.7 min? (1000 pulse pairs) integration time. Measurement of a horizontal column showed a precision of the CO(2) concentration to <0.7% standard deviation using a 30 min? (4500 pulse pairs) integration time, and comparison with a collocated in situ sensor showed the DIAL to measure the same trend of a diurnal variation and to detect shorter time scale CO(2) perturbations. For vertical column measurements the lidar was setup at the WLEF tall tower site in Wisconsin to provide meteorological profiles and to compare the DIAL measurements with the in situ sensors distributed on the tower up to 396 m height. Assuming the DIAL column measurement extending from 153 m altitude to 1353 m altitude should agree with the tower in situ sensor at 396 m altitude, there was a 7.9 ppm rms difference between the DIAL and the in situ sensor using a 30 min? rolling average on the DIAL measurement.

Complementary study of differential absorption lidar optimization in direct and heterodyne detections.

A detailed study using both analytical and numerical calculations of direct and heterodyne differential absorption lidar (DIAL) techniques is conducted to complement previous studies. The DIAL measurement errors depend on key experimental parameters, some of which can be adjusted to minimize the statistical error. Accordingly, the pertinent criteria on optical thickness, the number of photons emitted at the on and off wavelengths, are discussed to reduce the relative error on the total column content or range-resolved measurements that rely on either hard target or atmospheric backscatter returns. In direct detection, the optimal optical thickness decreases from 1.3 to 0.8 when the background increases while the on-line-to-off-line optimal energy ratio decreases from 3.6 to 2.7. In heterodyne detection, the minimum error is obtained for an optical thickness of 1.2 and an energy ratio of 4.3.

Two-micrometer heterodyne differential absorption lidar measurements of the atmospheric CO2 mixing ratio in the boundary layer.

A 2 microm heterodyne differential absorption lidar (HDIAL) has been operated at the Instïtut Pierre Simon Laplace, Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (Paris) to monitor the CO(2) mixing ratio in absolute value at high accuracy in the atmospheric boundary layer. Horizontal measurements at increasing range are made to retrieve the optical depth. The experimental setup takes advantage of a heterodyne lidar developed for wind velocity measurements. A control unit based on a photoacoustic cell filled with CO(2) is tested to correct afterward for ON-line frequency drift. The HDIAL results are validated using in situ routine measurements. The Doppler capability is used to follow the change in wind direction in the Paris suburbs.