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At least 271 records · Page 15

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NASA NTRS1978

Infrared vibration-rotation spectra of the ClO radical using tunable diode laser spectroscopy

Tunable diode laser spectroscopy is used to measure the infrared vibration-rotation spectra of the ClO radical. The radical is generated in a flow system where a Cl2-He mixture passes through a microwave discharge to dissociate the Cl2. An O3-O2 mixture from an ozone generator is injected into the system downstream of the microwave discharge where O3 combines with Cl to form ClO. By adjusting the gas flow rates to yield an excess of Cl atoms, all the ozone is combined. ClO concentration is measured with UV absorption at 2577 and 2772 A and a deuterium lamp as a continuous source. Total cell pressure is 5.5 torr. The diode laser spectrometer is calibrated with ammonia lines as a reference where possible. The frequency of vibration-rotation lines is expressed as a function of rotational quantum number, fundamental vibrational frequency, and the rotational constants of the upper and lower vibrational states.

Rogowski, R. S.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Optically coupling tunable diode lasers

Proposed opticle coupling, using lenses and mirrors that replace complex mechanical systems, can combine separate tunable diode laser outputs and expand wavelength range. Method uses single cooler housing and requires no moving parts within cooler assembly.

Robinson, D. M.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Development of tunable high pressure CO2 laser for lidar measurements of pollutants and wind velocities, January 1976 to December 1977

A tunable multiatmospheric pulsed CO2 laser with emphasis on experimental features and supporting theoretical analyses important to differential absorption lidar and Doppler lidar measurement of pollutants and wind velocities is reported. The energy deposition and the means to produce the uniform high density plasma in the multiatmospheric medium, through UV preionization of an organic seed gas is discussed. Design features of the pulsed CO2 laser are presented. The radiative processes which are operative and prevent the laser from breaking into oscillations in a large number of modes over its broad amplification bandwidth are described. The mode competition for the transient pulsed laser oscillation in a standing wave and traveling wave ring laser configuration is discussed and contrasted with the approach to steady state oscillations. The latter findings are important to transient injection locking for production of a highly stable pulsed CO2 laser output.

Javan, A.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Diagnostics and control of wavenumber stability and purity of tunable diode lasers relevant to their use as local oscillators in heterodyne systems

Initial operation of the tunable diode lasers (TDL) showed that it was not possible to adjust the wavenumber to one selected a priori in the TDL tuning range. During operation, the operating point would change by 0.1/cm over the longer term with even larger changes occurring during some thermal cycles. Most changes during thermal cycling required using lower temperatures and higher currents to reach the former wavenumber (when it could be reached). In many cases, an operating point could be selected by changing TDL current and temperature to give both the desired wavenumber and most of the power in a single mode. The selection procedure had to be used after each thermal cycling. Wavenumber nonlinearities of about 10% over a 0.5 cm tuning range were observed. Diagnostics of the single mode selected by a grating monochromator showed wavenumber fine structure under certain operating conditions. The characteristics due to the TDL environment included short term wavenumber stability, the instrument lineshape function, and intermediate term wavenumber stability.

Poultney, S.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Development and performance of a laser heterodyne spectrometer using tunable semiconductor lasers as local oscillators

A diode laser based IR heterodyne spectrometer for laboratory and field use was developed for high efficiency operation between 7.5 and 8.5 microns. The local oscillator is a PbSSe tunable diode laser kept continuously at operating temperatures of 12-60 K using a closed cycle cooler. The laser output frequency is controlled and stabilized using a high precision diode current supply, constant temperature controller, and a shock isolator mounted between the refrigerator cold tip and the diode mount. Single laser modes are selected by a grating placed in the local oscillator beam. The system employs reflecting optics throughout to minimize losses from internal reflection and absorption, and to eliminate chromatic effects. Spectral analysis of the diode laser output between 0 and 1 GHz reveals excess noise at many diode current settings, which limits the infrared spectral regions over which useful heterodyne operation can be achieved. System performance has been studied by making heterodyne measurements of etalon fringes and several Freon 13 (CF3Cl) absorption lines against a laboratory blackbody source. Preliminary field tests have also been performed using the Sun as a source.

Glenar, D.↗

NASA NTRS1980

DIAL with heterodyne detection including speckle noise: Aircraft/shuttle measurements of O3, H2O, and NH3 with pulsed tunable CO2 lasers

Atmospheric trace constituent measurements with higher vertical resolution than attainable with passive radiometers are discussed. Infrared differential absorption lidar (DIAL), which depends on Mie scattering from aerosols, has special advantages for tropospheric and lower stratospheric applications and has great potential importance for measurements from shuttle and aircraft. Differential absorption lidar data reduction involves comparing large amplitude signals which have small differences. The accuracy of the trace constituent concentration inferred from DIAL measurements depends strongly on the errors in determining the amplitude of the signals. Thus, the commonly used SNR expression (signal divided by noise in the absence of signal) is not adequate to describe DIAL measurement accuracy and must be replaced by an expression which includes the random coherent (speckle) noise within the signal. A comprehensive DIAL computer algorithm is modified to include heterodyne detection and speckle noise. Examples for monitoring vertical distributions of O3, H2O, and NH3 using a ground-, aircraft-, or shuttle-based pulsed tunable CO2 laser DIAL system are given.

Brockman, P.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Tunable single-longitudinal-mode operation of an injection-locked TEA CO2 laser

The tunable single-longitudinal-mode operation of a TEA CO2 laser by an injection technique using a CW waveguide laser as the master oscillator is reported. With the experimental arrangement described, in which the waveguide laser frequency is tuned to correspond to one of the oscillating longitudinal modes of the TEA laser, single-longitudinal-mode operation was achieved with no apparent reduction in the TEA output energy, on various CO2 lines with frequency offsets from the line center as large as 300 MHz. The capability of this technique for high-resolution spectroscopy or atmospheric lidar studies is demonstrated by the recording of the absorption spectrum of a strong ozone line.

Megie, G.↗

NASA NTRS1979

High-resolution spectral measurement of the HNO3 5.9-micron band using a tunable diode laser

High resolution spectra in the region of the v(2) band of nitric acid have been obtained for selected portions of the HNO3 spectrum using tunable diode laser techniques. Continuous spectra are presented from 1718.97/cm to 1729.57/cm, with a spectral resolution not greater than 0.001/cm (30 MHz). Absolute line intensities and line positions are presented. Self- and foreign-gas (N2) broadening coefficients were iteratively calculated from the experimental data and were determined to be alpha(a) = 0.74/cm atm and alpha (f) = 0.13/cm atm, respectively.

Bair, C. H.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Observation of nuclear quadrupole hyperfine structure in the infrared spectrum of hydrogen iodide using a tunable-diode laser

Nuclear quadrupole hyperfine structure has been observed in the 1-0 vibration-rotation band of hydrogen iodide with a tunable-diode laser. The measured splittings agree well with microwave measurements of the HI molecule. Evidence for a slight change in the iodine nuclear quadrupole coupling constant from the ground to first excited vibrational state in hydrogen iodide was found.

Strow, L. L.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Vibration characteristics of a laser heterodyne spectrometer tunable diode laser system using a mechanical cooler platform

The Langley Research Center redesigned the cooler test bed hardware for the refrigerator for the purpose of isolating the tunable diode laser (TDL) from the cold tip in a laser heterodyne spectrometer system. Deflection in the lateral and vertical directions were managed on the cold tip and on the TDL. Measurements were analyzed over the frequency range of 0.100 Hz. The results show that the TDL responds approximately one order of magnitude less than that of the cold tip. The redesign of the system provided for adequately isolating the TDL for future operation.

Catherines, J. J.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Tunable diode-laser heterodyne spectrometer for remote observations near 8 microns

A diode-laser-based, ultrahigh resolution IR heterodyne spectrometer for laboratory and field use has been developed for operation between 7.5 and 8.5 microns. The local oscillator is a PbSe tunable diode laser kept continuously at operating temperatures of 12-60 K using a closed-cycle cooler. The laser output frequency is controlled and stabilized using a high-precision diode current supply, constant temperature controller, and a shock isolator mounted between the refrigerator cold tip and the diode mount. The system largely employs reflecting optics to minimize losses from internal reflection and absorption and to eliminate chromatic effects. Spectral analysis of the diode-laser output between 0 and 1 GHz reveals excess noise at many diode current settings, which limits the IR spectral regions over which useful heterodyne operation can be achieved. Observations have been made of atmospheric N2O, O3, and CH4 between 1170 and 1200/cm, using both a single-frequency swept IF channel and a 64-channel RF spectral line receiver with a total IF coverage of 1600 MHz.

Glenar, D.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Measurements of pressure-broadening coefficients of NO and O3 using a computerized tunable diode laser spectrometer

Foreign-gas broadening coefficients have been measured for selected lines of ozone in the 9.2 micron region and for several R-branch lines of nitric oxide in the 5.4 micron region using a computerized tunable diode laser spectrometer. The data analysis showed the importance of fitting a Lorentzian line shape out to several times the halfwidth to obtain a correct value of the broadening coefficient. The measured broadening coefficients of nitric oxide were in good agreement with those obtained by Abels and Shaw (1966). The results of the analysis of eleven lines in the v-1 band and five lines in the v-3 band of ozone show a transition-dependent broadening coefficient. The average value of the foreign-gas broadening ceofficients for the measured v-1 and v-3 lines are 0.075 and 0.073 per cm per atm, respectively.

Lundqvist, S.↗

NASA NTRS1983

A tunable dual frequency dye laser - dual frequency oscillator design

The pulsed dye laser offers a tunable oscillator, followed by three amplifiers. It is pumped by a dual frequency Nd:YAG laser. Tuning and spectral width are controlled by a holographic network connected to a high power telescope. The modified two wavelength dye laser allows for absorption lidar techniques for remote sensing of the atmosphere. Line switching is achieved by electrooptical commutation. A feasibility experiment was performed with the original oscillator. A model was then built, and tested with different dyes. After a few modifications were made to improve the conversion efficiency, this oscillator was inserted in the laser to check whether the amplifier stages were correctly adjusted.

Abury, Y.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Linewidth measurements of tunable diode lasers using heterodyne and etalon techniques

Measurements of the linewidths of Pb-salt diode lasers operating in the 8- and 9-micron region are reported. The linewidths of the 9-micron lasers were determined by conventional heterodyne techniques, while for the 8-micron lasers a new technique based on a Fabry-Perot etalon was used. The new technique avoids the complexity and limited wavelength range of the heterodyne measurements and can be used for any tunable laser. The linewidths observed varied from 0.6 to more than 500-MHz FWHM. The linewidth was found to vary dramatically from device to device, to depend strongly on junction temperature and injection current, and to be correlated with vibrations caused by operation of a closed-cycle refrigerator.

Reid, J.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Laboratory simulation of tunable diode laser remote measurement of atmospheric gases using topographic targets

In order to test the possibility that tunable diode laser (TDL) systems using topographic targets can be applied to the measurement of a variety of gases at concentrations and distances characteristic of industrial gas leaks, a single-ended TDL system was assembled for use with selected topographic targets to detect NO2 at atmospheric pressure and NO2 and NH3 at low pressures. In both cases, the intensity distribution of radiation backscattered from selected targets was found to be heavily weighted to a specular rather than a Lambertian distribution. A sensitivity of 5 ppm-m has been demonstrated for the case of NO2.

Webster, C. R.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Tunable laser heterodyne spectrometer measurements of atmospheric species

It is pointed out that spectroscopic measurements conducted with the aid of tunable laser heterodyne spectrometers in the 3-30 micron range of the electromagnetic spectrum have the potential to measure the vertical profiles of tenuous gas molecules in the atmosphere with ultra high spectral resolution and great sensitivity. Programs related to the realization of this potential have been conducted for some time, and a Laser Heterodyne Spectrometer (LHS) experiment was developed. The present investigation has the objective to provide an overview of the LHS concept for measuring the vertical profiles of tenuous gas molecules in the upper atmosphere from space and airborne platforms, and to discuss the sensitivity ranges for this technique.

Allario, F.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Precise Control of a Tunable IR Diode Laser

Tuning system applicable to lead-salt semiconductor tunable diode laser (TDL) and other solid-state lasers with temperature and current dependent emission wavelength developed for balloon borne, highresolution spectrometer that measures trace atmospheric constituents in stratosphere. Instrument measures absorption at approximately 20 points in 100 MHz wide spectral line.

Menzies, R. T.↗

NASA NTRS1984

In situ measurement of stratospheric nitric oxide using a balloon-borne tunable diode laser spectrometer

The stratospheric mixing ratio of nitric oxide at an altitude of 36 km has been measured using a balloon-borne tunable diode laser (TDL) instrument operating in the 5.2-micron wavelength region. Currently the instrument operates with two TDLs, and the capability exists to measure four stratospheric species simultaneously: NO, NO2, O3, and H2O. During the NO measurements reported here, the second TDL operating near 6.2 microns was used to monitor water vapor concentration in the vicinity of the gondola by observing the 1889.57 per cm line absorption in the reference channel path length (1 m).

Webster, C. R.↗