Compact, Rugged and Low-Cost Atmospheric Ozone DIAL Transmitter

Bridger Photonics Inc. (Bridger) proposes to develop the most compact, efficient and low-cost ultra-violet ozone differential absorption lidar (DIAL) transmitter available. This system will use a frequency-doubled, conductively-cooled, q-switched Nd:YAG laser to pump a combination optical parametric oscillator (OPO) and sum frequency generation (SFG) cavity to deliver 6 ns, 1.5 mJ and 1 kHz pulses at three wavelengths within the 280 nm to 316 nm ozone DIAL band. Bridger will employ mechanically robust and environmentally insensitive monolithic laser and OPO designs making the transmitter well suited for continuous DIAL measurements from ground-based, airborne and space-based platforms. Bridger estimates that the high efficiency and compact packaging offered by the proposed pump laser and OPO will result in an ozone DIAL transmitter that weighs<30 kg (including the control electronics), consumes less than 550 W of power at 110VAC, and costs less than $75,000 per unit.