STABILIZED LASERS AS SPECTRORADIOMETRIC STANDARDS FOR UV ELECTRO-OPTIC DETECTORS

THE PURPOSE OF OUR RESEARCH PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP AN AUTOMATED FACILITY FOR CALIBRATION AND TESTING OF ELECTRO-OPTIC DETECTORS. WE HAVE DEVELOPED A VERY PRECISE AND FLEXIBLE ELECTRO-OPTIC SERVO SYSTEM WHICH PROVIDES EXTREMELY STABLE AND EASILY COMPUTER-CONTROLLED LIGHT OUTPUT FROM A WIDE RANGE OF LASERS SUITABLE FOR CALIBRATIONSIN THE VISIBLE AND NEAR INFRARED. THE MAIN AIM OF THIS PHASE I RESEARCH PROGRAM IS TO INVESTIGATE HOW THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY CAN BE EXTENDED INTO THE ULTRAVIOLET TO PROVIDE EXTREMELY STABLE AND CONVENIENTLY CONTROLLED SPECTRO-RADIOMETRIC STANDARDS DOWN TO BELOW 200 NM. A SUCCESSFUL FACILITY BASED ON THE PHASE I BREADBOARD WE PLAN TO CONSTRUCT WOULD BE CAPABLE OF AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE IMPROVEMENT IN CALIBRATION OF DETECTORS IN USE AT NASA FOR REMOTE SENSING OF OZONE VARIATIONS. OUR PLANS FOR PHASE II WOULD FOCUS ON CONSTRUCTION AND TESTING OF AN AUTOMATED DETECTOR TEST FACILITY, OPTIMIZED FOR APPLICATIONS IN NASA LABORATORIES AND ALSO ON ORBITAL PLATFORMS. IN PHASE II WE WOULD ALSO EXTEND THE RANGE OF THIS FACILITY INTO THE IR BEYOND 10 , AND TO ACCOMMODATE MULTI-ELEMENT ARRAY DETECTORS.