Investigation of near and mid infrared (1.34, 1.55 and 8.1&mgr;m) laser propagation through the New York City metro area

Paul Corrigan; Rainer Martini; Edward Whittaker; Claire Gmachl

doi:10.1117/12.720015

4 May 2007 Investigation of near and mid infrared (1.34, 1.55 and 8.1&mgr;m) laser propagation through the New York City metro area

Paul Corrigan, Rainer Martini, Edward Whittaker, Claire Gmachl

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6551, Atmospheric Propagation IV; 655107 (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.720015
Event: Defense and Security Symposium, 2007, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

Low power Mid-IR laser light exhibits much lower attenuation in propagation through the New York metro area when compared to Near-IR wavelengths. Depending on the type of atmospheric extinction we record a reduction of up to 800% in the exponential Beer-Lambert coefficient for Mid-IR light compared to Near-IR, thereby demonstrating the possibility of significantly increased deployable range and SNR of current communication systems by utilizing the Mid-IR spectrum. We present and analyze transmission data from an outdoor collinear, coaxial, multi-wavelength laser test bed comparing 1.31&mgr;m, 1.55&mgr;m and 8&mgr;m through outdoor atmospheric fog and rain over a 550 m free space optical link across the Stevens Institute of Technology campus. This is achieved using lasers with average power ranging from 1 mW (Mid-IR QCL) to tens of milliwatts which have been normalized under lock-in detection. We also present corroborating results from an indoor fog experiment simulating various fog types. Here we have also deconstructed Beer's attenuation coefficient and distinguish the contribution of scattering and absorption with a purpose-built polar nephelometer. Using Mie predictions we determine and measure the extent by which a Mid-IR system scatters light less under fog than a traditional Near-IR one, hence accounting for the performance enhancement in the metro-air test bed. We conclude finally that the Kruse-Mie prediction of insignificant Mid-IR-over-Near-IR-gain is strongly in error.

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Paul Corrigan, Rainer Martini, Edward Whittaker, and Claire Gmachl "Investigation of near and mid infrared (1.34, 1.55 and 8.1&mgr;m) laser propagation through the New York City metro area", Proc. SPIE 6551, Atmospheric Propagation IV, 655107 (4 May 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.720015

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KEYWORDS

Mid-IR

Scattering

Fiber optic gyroscopes

Laser scattering

Light scattering

Signal attenuation

Absorption

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