The accurate determination of the atmospheric distribution of carbon dioxide (CO2) on planetary scale is a key requirement for setting up modeling tools able to make reliable predictions of Earth climate dynamics which are essential for the understanding of such important issues as climate change and global warming. Nowadays, the concentrations of CO2 are mainly measured in-situ at a number of surface stations that are unevenly distributed over the planet. Air-borne and space-borne missions have the potential to provide a denser and better distributed set of observations to complement those provided by the surface network.
Space-borne lidar systems require laser transmitters with very good performance in terms of output power, beam quality, conversion efficiency, long term reliability and environmental compatibility. Atmospheric gas sensing additionally requires spectral purity and stability.
In the field of atmospheric research lidar is a powerful technology to measure remotely different parameters like gas or aerosol concentrations, wind speed or temperature profiles. For global coverage, spaceborne systems are advantageous. To achieve highly accurate measurements over long distances high pulse energies are required. A Nd:YAG-MOPA system consisting of a stable oscillator and two subsequent InnoSlab-based amplifier stages was designed and built as a breadboard demonstrator. Overall, more than 500 mJ of pulse energy at 100 Hz pulse repetition frequency at about 30 ns pulse duration in single longitudinal mode were demonstrated. When seeded with 75 mJ pulses, the 2nd amplifier stage achieved an optical efficiency (pump energy to extracted energy) of more than 23 % at excellent beam quality. Recently, different MOPA systems comprising a single InnoSlab amplifier stage in the 100 mJ regime were designed and built for current and future airborne and spaceborne lidar missions. Amplification factors of about 10 at optical efficiencies of about 23 % were achieved. In order to address the 500 mJ regime the established InnoSlab design was scaled geometrically in a straight forward way. Hereby, the basic design properties like stored energy densities, fluences and thermal load densities were retained. The InnoSlab concept has demonstrated the potential to fulfill the strong requirements of spaceborne instruments concerning high efficiency at low optical loads, excellent beam quality at low system complexity. Therefore, it was chosen as baseline concept for the MERLIN mission, currently in phase B.
We propose an integrated path differential absorption lidar system based on all-semiconductor laser sources and single photon counting detection for column-averaged measurements of atmospheric CO2. The Random Modulated Continuous Wave (RM-CW) approach has been selected as the best suited to semiconductor lasers. In a RM-CW lidar, a pseudo random sequence is sent to the atmosphere and the received signal reflected from the target is correlated with the original sequence in order to retrieve the path length. The transmitter design is based on two monolithic Master Oscillator Power Amplifiers (MOPAs), providing the on-line and off-line wavelengths close to the selected absorption line around 1.57 µm. Each MOPA consists of a frequency stabilized distributed feedback master oscillator, a bent modulator section, and a tapered amplifier. This design allows the emitters to deliver high power and high quality laser beams with good spectral properties. An output power above 400 mW with a SMSR higher than 45 dB and modulation capability have been demonstrated. On the side of the receiver, our theoretical and experimental results indicate that the major noise contribution comes from the ambient light and detector noise. For this reason narrow band optical filters are required in the envisioned space-borne applications. In this contribution, we present the latest progresses regarding the design, modeling and characterization of the transmitter, the receiver, the frequency stabilization unit and the complete system.
The availability of suitable laser sources is one of the main challenges in future space missions for accurate measurement
of atmospheric CO2. The main objective of the European project BRITESPACE is to demonstrate the feasibility of an
all-semiconductor laser source to be used as a space-borne laser transmitter in an Integrated Path Differential Absorption
(IPDA) lidar system. We present here the proposed transmitter and system architectures, the initial device design and the
results of the simulations performed in order to estimate the source requirements in terms of power, beam quality, and
spectral properties to achieve the required measurement accuracy. The laser transmitter is based on two InGaAsP/InP
monolithic Master Oscillator Power Amplifiers (MOPAs), providing the ON and OFF wavelengths close to the selected
absorption line around 1.57 μm. Each MOPA consists of a frequency stabilized Distributed Feedback (DFB) master
oscillator, a modulator section, and a tapered semiconductor amplifier optimized to maximize the optical output power.
The design of the space-compliant laser module includes the beam forming optics and the thermoelectric coolers. The
proposed system replaces the conventional pulsed source with a modulated continuous wave source using the Random
Modulation-Continuous Wave (RM-CW) approach, allowing the designed semiconductor MOPA to be applicable in
such applications. The system requirements for obtaining a CO2 retrieval accuracy of 1 ppmv and a spatial resolution of less than 10 meters have been defined. Envelope estimated of the returns indicate that the average power needed is of a
few watts and that the main noise source is the ambient noise.
The realization of a compact green-emitting solid state laser source for applications like laser TV or head-up displays is
still a challenging task. One way to generate green light with a solid state laser source is nonlinear frequency upconversion
(frequency-doubling) of e.g. 1064 nm to 532 nm. In order to achieve good conversion efficiencies tunable laser sources with output powers of several watts, narrow bandwidth and good beam quality are required.
We have realized tapered laser diodes based on the GaInAs/AlGaAs material system emitting at a central wavelength of 1064 nm. These devices have an AR-coating on the front facet as well as on the ridge facet. Therefore, these laser diodes can be frequency stabilized in an external cavity setup consisting either of a grating in Littrow mounting placed on the rear side or by an integrated Fiber Bragg grating. The latter configuration allows a compact low footprint integration of the laser diodes into compact laser modules.
The optical output power of these devices frequency stabilized at 1064 nm exceeds 4 W with beam qualities suitable for
frequency doubling (M2 < 2) and a tuning range from 1030 nm to 1070 nm. For laser diodes with a HR coating on the
ridge facet even higher output powers of more than 8 W are achieved.
The ridge and tapered section of the tapered diode amplifiers are contacted separately in order to enable the modulation
of the light source by the variation of the ridge current. The rapid temporal modulation achieved this way is a prerequisite for the use of such lasers in flying spot display applications.
With the technological progress of tapered diode lasers brightness and output power of fiber coupled modules
can be improved. Tapered diodes bear the potential to achieve high coupling efficiencies in multimode as well
as single mode fibers. Within the BRIGHTER Project of the European Union several modules are designed to
exploit this potential. The optical systems, the mechanical design and the experimental results of these modules
will be presented.
A design for a telecom pump module with a coupled power of 50 W in a 50 μm fiber with an NA of 0.22 at
975 nm will be presented. 16 collimated tapered single emitters aligned in four groups of four emitters are
combined by mirrors and a polarizing beam splitter and coupled into the fiber. As a variant of this module four
emitters are fiber coupled to achieve a power of 12 W of a 50 μm fiber with a NA of 0.13.
A single mode fiber coupled module with a maximum output power of 1 W will be presented. Based on a
tapered DFB Laser with a wavelength of 1060 nm it serves as a free space communication module. In another
application this module is utilized as pump source for second harmonic generation. Equipped with a 975 nm
tapered laser diode this module serves as a powerful pump source for Raman amplification.
For many applications a frequency stabilized beam source with high output power and a good beam quality is
needed. Tapered lasers and amplifiers can provide a high output power, whereas they have a slightly lower beam
quality than ridge lasers. In a single mode fiber (SMF) coupled module, the beam quality provided by the
module is predetermined by the fiber. The technological progress of tapered lasers should allow a high enough
coupling efficiency to give SMF coupled modules using a tapered laser or amplifier the potential for a higher
output power than modules using a ridge laser.
It will be shown how this potential can be exploited by using different coupling systems for example with
cylindrical lenses either crossed or in combination with rotational lenses. The advantages, problems and coupling
results of those systems will be illustrated.
Two approaches of frequency stabilization will be shown. To stabilize a tapered amplifier the external cavity has
been set up by a fiber bragg grating on the backside of the amplifier. A volume holographic grating, which is
written in the fast axis collimation lens of the coupling system, was used to stabilize a tapered laser.
Laser modules for single mode fiber (SMF) coupling of frequency stabilized diode lasers are so far mainly
realized with ridge lasers due to their good beam quality. Tapered lasers are beam sources with a beam quality
which is nearly as good as that of a ridge laser but with a higher optical output power. Therefore they have the
potential for a higher SMF-coupled power than ridge lasers. It will be shown how the radiation of a tapered laser
or amplifier can be frequency stabilized and coupled into a SMF in a compactly build module.
To couple a tapered laser different coupling systems, using cylindrical lenses either crossed or in combination
with rotational lenses are possible. The advantages, problems and coupling results of those systems will be
illustrated.
For many applications it is necessary to stabilize the frequency of the laser. This can be achieved for example by
a fiber bragg grating, written in the SMF in which the laser is coupled or by a volume holographic grating,
applied to a lens in the coupling system. Another possibility is the use of a tapered amplifier, which is stabilized
by a fiber bragg grating on the backside of the amplifier.
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