TY - CHAP
T1 - Filament-initiated lasing in neutral molecular nitrogen
AU - Kartashov, Daniil
AU - Shneider, Mikhail N.
AU - Baltuska, Andrius
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Springer International Publishing AG.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Modern optical spectroscopy of the atmosphere at high altitudes relies primarily on the powerful and well-established LIDAR technique. A ground-based (or air−/space-borne) laser source is used for standoff linear measurements of the scattering characteristics of molecular, atomic, or particle species in the air in different scattering regimes (Rayleigh, Mie, spontaneous Raman). The incoherent nature of the scattered field measured in the backward direction sets practical limitation on the tracing distance, spatial resolution, and the species-dependent sensitivity threshold. The possibility of standoff initiation of a coherent source of backward-directed radiation in the sky would enable application of different methods of nonlinear optics, such as stimulated Raman scattering, CARS, etc., for the highly sensitive and highly selective spectroscopy of the atmosphere at high altitudes (Hemmer et al. PNAS 108, 3130, 2011; Yuan et al. Laser Phys. Lett. 8, 736, 2011) with (potentially) significantly larger detection range and finer spatial resolution. One of the possibilities to initiate such standoff coherent source of radiation in the atmosphere can be provided by achieving population inversion and laser generation in one of the two main atmospheric constituents, nitrogen (≈78% concentration) and oxygen (≈21% concentration). In principle, both gases allow population inversion and laser generation.
AB - Modern optical spectroscopy of the atmosphere at high altitudes relies primarily on the powerful and well-established LIDAR technique. A ground-based (or air−/space-borne) laser source is used for standoff linear measurements of the scattering characteristics of molecular, atomic, or particle species in the air in different scattering regimes (Rayleigh, Mie, spontaneous Raman). The incoherent nature of the scattered field measured in the backward direction sets practical limitation on the tracing distance, spatial resolution, and the species-dependent sensitivity threshold. The possibility of standoff initiation of a coherent source of backward-directed radiation in the sky would enable application of different methods of nonlinear optics, such as stimulated Raman scattering, CARS, etc., for the highly sensitive and highly selective spectroscopy of the atmosphere at high altitudes (Hemmer et al. PNAS 108, 3130, 2011; Yuan et al. Laser Phys. Lett. 8, 736, 2011) with (potentially) significantly larger detection range and finer spatial resolution. One of the possibilities to initiate such standoff coherent source of radiation in the atmosphere can be provided by achieving population inversion and laser generation in one of the two main atmospheric constituents, nitrogen (≈78% concentration) and oxygen (≈21% concentration). In principle, both gases allow population inversion and laser generation.
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U2 - 10.1007/978-3-319-65220-7_5
DO - 10.1007/978-3-319-65220-7_5
M3 - Chapter
AN - SCOPUS:85038623824
T3 - Springer Series in Optical Sciences
SP - 89
EP - 120
BT - Springer Series in Optical Sciences
PB - Springer Verlag
ER -