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Proceedings ArticleDOI

Development Of Mesospheric Sodium Laser Beacon For Atmospheric Adaptive Optics

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TLDR
In this article, a solid-state source of long pulse length, sodium-resonance radiation was developed for the purpose of generating an artificial star in the earth's mesospheric sodium layer.
Abstract
A solid-state source of long pulse length, sodium-resonance radiation was developed for the purpose of generating an artificial star in the earth's mesospheric sodium layer. This radiation is generated by sum-frequency mixing the output of a 1.064 micron Nd:YAG laser with the output of a 1.319-micron Nd:YAG laser. By operating these lasers at wavelengths very close to the peak of their tuning curves, it is possible to match the wavelength of the sum-frequency radiation to that of the sodium D2 adsorption wavelength. Two pulsed laser systems were constructed, one producing as much as 0.6 J of sodium resonance radiation at a 10-Hz repetition rate and another producing as much as 24 mJ at a 840-Hz repetition rate. In both laser systems, the 1.06-micron and 1.32-micron Nd:YAG lasers are configured as mode-locked master oscillators followed by power amplifiers. Other aspects of this project are presented.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI

High power diode laser arrays

TL;DR: In this paper, the development of high-power diode laser arrays for solid-state laser pumping is detailed, including advances in available wavelength, efficiency, temperature of operation, duty cycle of operation and peak and average power levels or densities.
Journal ArticleDOI

Development of an intracavity-summed multiple-wavelength Nd:YAG laser for a rugged, solid-state sodium lidar system.

TL;DR: A single-cavity solid-state laser that is resonant with sodium D(2) absorption is reported and is sufficient to provide a time-averaged linewidth of 1.7 GHz at 589 nm.
Journal ArticleDOI

Modeling of pulsed-laser guide stars for the Thirty Meter Telescope project

TL;DR: In this article, the response of mesospheric sodium atoms to a pulsed laser that has been proposed for use in the LGS facility was calculated, including modeling of the atomic physics, the light-atom interactions, and the effect of the geomagnetic field and atomic collisions.
Proceedings ArticleDOI

Gemini north and south laser guide star systems requirements and preliminary designs

TL;DR: In this paper, the similarities and differences between the Gemini North and South laser guide star systems are discussed and a brief overview of the Gemini facility Adaptive Optics systems and the on-going laser research and development program to procure efficient, affordable and reliable lasers.
Journal ArticleDOI

Research development of 589 nm laser for sodium laser guide stars

TL;DR: In this article, the development history and state of the art of the state-of-the-art in this field are expatiated, which is useful reference for the future research in the field.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Optical Resolution Through a Randomly Inhomogeneous Medium for Very Long and Very Short Exposures

TL;DR: In this article, the average resolution of very-long and very-short-exposure images is studied in terms of the phase and log-amplitude structure functions, whose sum is called the wave-structure function.
Journal ArticleDOI

Experimental determinations of the hyperfine structure in the alkali atoms

TL;DR: In this paper, the measurements of the hyperfine structure of free, naturally occurring, alkali atoms are reviewed and the experimental methods are discussed, as well as the relationships between hyperfine data and other atomic constants.
Journal ArticleDOI

Experiments on laser guide stars at Mauna Kea Observatory for adaptive imaging in astronomy

TL;DR: In this article, Foy and Labeyrie used a laser to generate an artificial guide star in the mesospheric sodium layer to compensate for the turbulence of ground-based astronomical telescopes.
Journal ArticleDOI

Lidar studies of the nighttime sodium layer over Urbana, Illinois: 1. Seasonal and nocturnal variations

TL;DR: Sodium lidar measurements obtained between December 1980 and May 1986 at Urbana, Illinois, are compared with other reported LIDAR measurements and with recently developed models of the layer as discussed by the authors.
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