DIFFERENTIAL ABSORPTION LIDAR (DIAL) USING A BROADLY TUNABLE CR:LISAF LASER

THERE ARE MANY APPLICATIONS FOR A TUNABLE COHERENT 390 NM TO 3.5 M SOURCE BUT THERE ARE NO TUNABLE LASER SOURCES AND VERY FEW DISCRETE LASER LINES IN THIS REGION. BY USING A TITANIUM SAPPHIRE LASER AND FREQUENCY DOUBLING THERE IS LIMITED TUNABILITY BUT THIS APPROACH SUFFERS FROM POOR CONVERSION EFFICIENCY, LARGE SIZE, AND WEIGHT. RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING A CR:LISAF LASER OPERATING AT 0.78-1.0 MUM AS A PUMP LASER FOR AN OPTICAL PARAMETRIC OSCILLATOR (OPO) AND A SECOND HARMONIC GENERATOR (SHG) FOR THE GENERATION OF 0.39-3.5 MUM TUNABLE SOURCE. A HIGH POWER FLASHLAMP PUMPED Q-SWITCHED CR:LISAF LASER WILL BE USED ALSO. THE CONCEPT OF PUMPING CR:LISAF WITH A LASER DIODE TO REDUCE LASER SIZE AND WEIGHT AND IMPROVE RELIABILITY WILL BE EVALUATED.