Differential absorption laser ranging at the oxygen A-band
Abstract
Work on a diode laser-based collision-avoidance approach which utilizes differential absorption at the oxygen A band to make the atmosphere encode propagation distance on a one-way beam is discussed. This system's principal features are covertness and low power requirements, though its range resolution is comparable to conventional two-way systems. A laser thermally tuned to an oxygen resonance at 760.45 nm was modulated through the line at 1 KHz, and the dropouts associated with passage through the oxygen line were seen at different distances by employing a small photodiode with a transimpedance amplifier. Within the 1/e length of 33 m associated with this particular line, the dropout width was observed to be largely invariant, whereas the depth of dropouts varied with distance as expected.
- Publication:
-
Laser Diode Technology and Applications II
- Pub Date:
- May 1990
- DOI:
- 10.1117/12.18290
- Bibcode:
- 1990SPIE.1219..525S
- Keywords:
-
- Collision Avoidance;
- Laser Ranger/Tracker;
- Optical Radar;
- Radiation Absorption;
- Semiconductor Lasers;
- Atmospheric Composition;
- Laser Beams;
- Laser Range Finders;
- Line Spectra;
- Oxygen;
- Lasers and Masers