Airborne interferometer for atmospheric emission and solar absorption

The interferometer for emission and solar absorption (INTESA) is an infrared spectrometer designed to study radiative transfer in the troposphere and lower stratosphere from a NASA ER-2 aircraft. The Fourier-transform spectrometer (FTS) operates from 0.7 to 50 mum with a resolution of 0.7 cm(-1). The FTS observes atmospheric thermal emission from multiple angles above and below the aircraft. A heliostat permits measurement of solar absorption spectra. INTESA's calibration system includes three blackbodies to permit in-flight assessment of radiometric error. Results suggest that the in-flight radiometric accuracy is ~0.5 K in the mid-infrared.     

Artificial diamond as a broadband infrared beam splitter for fourier transform spectroscopy

We show that an artificially grown diamond plate serves as a very broadband beam splitter from approximately 7 mum, where the intrinsic diamond absorption becomes important, to the submillimeter region (a 250-mum wavelength or longer).     

Application of a Shack cube as a beam splitter in interferometers with a local reference beam

A different setup of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer for testing the convergent wave front is described. A Shack cube is used to replace a traditional recollimator and a parallel-plate beam splitter. An equivalent pupil model has been suggested that describes the point diffraction mechanism. The calibration procedures for the Mach-Zehnder interferometer are described. The Shack-cube beam splitter has the advantages of compactness and better reference-beam quality compared with the recollimator and the parallel-plate beam splitter.     

Modified white-light Mach-Zehnder interferometer for direct group-delay measurements

A modified white-light Mach-Zehnder interferometer based on a single beam splitter is described for direct group-delay measurements. The arms of the interferometer are folded in such a manner that a single beam splitter can be used to split the incoming beam and combine the outgoing beams. This method offers a twofold advantage: The measuring range of the interferometer is twice as large as that of the Michelson interferometer, and the systematic error that is associated with the beam splitter is minimized because of the configuration. We report the results of measurements on various optical components performed in the 555-630-nm spectral region and propose a scheme for the processing of the experimental data. We present a comparison of the data analyzed by the proposed processing scheme along with the theoretical calculations.     

Crystalline quartz as a far-infrared beam splitter for Fourier transform spectroscopy

We show that room-temperature, crystalline quartz is a useful material for a beam splitter for spectroscopy in the far infrared, ~60-mum wavelength and longer. We compare such a beam splitter with the traditional far-infrared candidates: Mylar, polarizing, and lamellar beam splitters.     

Generation of amplitude squeezed states of light from phase squeezed coherent states

Abstract

We propose a scheme to generate a displaced macroscopic superposition of phase squeezed coherent states by incorporating an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) and a nonlinear Kerr medium in a Mach-Zhender interferometer configuration. We show that the phase squeezed coherent state generated by the OPO evolves into a macroscopic superposition of phase squeezed coherent states on spending a specific amount of time inside a Kerr medium. The phase space displacement is achieved by the interference of the intense reference beam with the signal in the final beam splitter of the interferometer. The noise of the reference beam contaminating the signal is prevented by making this beam splitter highly reflective. We have calculated the photon number uncertainty of the outcoming beam and have shown that it is smaller than the usual amplitude squeezed coherent state's value.     

Two-photon resonance-enhanced refractive-index change and self-focusing in a dye-solution-filled hollow fiber system

The general behavior of two-photon absorption-enhanced refractive-index change in a third-order nonlinear optical medium is briefly described. The nonlinear medium was the solution of a new dye, trans-4-[p-(N-hydroxyethyl-N-methylamino)styryl]-N-methyl pyridinium iodide (ASPI) in dimethyl sulfoxide as the solvent, that was poured into a 20-cm-long quartz hollow fiber of 100-mum internal diameter. This dye solution has a strong two-photon absorption and subsequent upconversion fluorescence emission when excited with 1064-nm laser radiation. When the input peak intensity reached 500-1500-MW/cm(2) levels, obvious changes in beam profiles of the output IR laser beam were observed due to a self-focusing or self-trapping process occurring inside the fiber system. As a result of this process, highly directional frequency-upconverted superradiant lasing output was obtained with a beam size ~5 times smaller than that of a linearly transmitted He-Ne probe laser beam. The demonstrated mechanism can be useful for fiber laser-amplifier and fiber-integrated optics devices.     

Global tropospheric and total ozone monitoring with a double-etalon fabry-perot interferometer. I. Instrument concept

The global distribution of tropospheric ozone (O(3)) can be observed from a satellite-based instrument by spectrally isolating the pressure-broadened wings of strong O(3) lines. The Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) provides high spectral resolution and high-throughput capabilities that are essential for performing such a measurement. Through proper selection of channel spectral regions, the FPI optimized for tropospheric O(3) measurements can simultaneously observe a stratospheric component and thus the total O(3) column abundance. We present a conceptual instrument design that involves a double-etalon fixed-gap series configuration FPI along with an ultranarrow bandpass filter to achieve single-order operation with an overall spectral resolution of approximately 0.068 cm(-1), sampling the narrow 1054.2-1055.2 cm(-1) spectral region within the strong 9.6-mum ozone infrared band from a nadir-viewing satellite configuration.     

Phase anomalies in fourier-transform spectrometers: an absorbing beam splitter is neither sufficient nor necessary

Recently it has been a topic of some discussion that the phase associated with part of the self-emission of a Fourier-transform spectrometer may differ neither by 0 nor by pi rad from the phase of an external target if there is absorption in the beam splitter. The conventional interpretation of this has been to separate the self-emission into three terms: instrument emission from the input port, in phase with the external target; emission from the secondary input port, pi rad from the target; and emission from an absorbing beam splitter with an anomalous phase (neither 0 nor pi rad with respect to the target). There is another necessary condition that has not received much attention, that the instrument not be isothermal. For polarized radiation there is an additional condition that suppresses the anomalous phase, and for unpolarized radiation there is a way to produce an anomalous phase without beam-splitter absorption.     

Self-compensating, all-reflection interferometer

A grating interferometer that uses all-reflecting optical components has been developed for operation in the extreme and far UV. The instrument uses a V-groove, ruled grating as its beam splitter and has no moving parts. A self-compensating optical design is employed that makes it tolerant to small misadjustments of optical alignments and convenient for space-flight applications. The instrument described here uses a 600-groove/mm plane diffraction grating that operates in the second order and obtains a resolving power of ~ 100,000 at 1216 ?.     

Testing Aspherics in Reflected Light Using Blazed Synthetic Holograms

It is shown that blazed computer generated holograms having a rotational symmetry (RSH) are especially suitable for interferometers working in reflected light which can be used in testing aspherics. The RSH acts either as a null lens of a very complex kind or it is used not only as beam splitter but also as beam combiner. From a more technical point of view, the latter version is especially interesting although in this case parasitic light caused by the double passage of all beams through the RSH may spoil the interference pattern. The two versions were tested experimentally. So, a Twyman-Green interferometer, on the basis of a blazed RSH, was built and tested. The interference pattern was free from severe disturbances because of the double passage through the RSH. Also a Fizeau interferometer was tested where the RSH acts as beam splitter and reunifer. Here the disturbances were more severe owing to the fact that the zero order as well as one first order of diffraction must be used. Possibilities for the suppression of stray light in this type of interferometer are discussed.     

Multipass Michelson interferometer with the use of a wavelength-modulated laser diode

An improved multipass Michelson interferometer is implemented. This technique uses the fact that the wavelength of a laser diode varies in proportion to the diode's injection current. With this method the sensitivity augmentation is accomplished by inserting a beam splitter into one arm of the interferometer, resulting in multiple reflections between the end mirror and the beam splitter. In addition, the interference of laser beams reflected from two arms can be accomplished with unequal arms in the condition of a short coherence length. The sensitivity increase of interference fringes and the compensation of the short coherence length have been demonstrated in experiments.     

Calibrated 0.1-cm(-1) IR emission spectra from 80°N

Spectra from a 0.1-cm(-1) resolution absolutely calibrated emission interferometer installed near Eureka, Northwest Territories, Canada (80°N, 86°W), at the Arctic Stratospheric Observatory are presented. The Michelson-type interferometer has a maximum path difference of 10 cm and uses a liquid-N(2)-cooled HgCdTe detector, which covers the spectral region from 650 to 1250 cm(-1). Spectral intervals containing CO(2), HNO(3), and ozone have been modeled with a line-by-line radiative-transfer code and column amounts retrieved for the latter two constituents. The instrument and initial measurements are described.     

On-line reaction monitoring in the liquid phase using two mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers simultaneously

On-line monitoring of a model reaction was performed by employing two pulsed mid-infrared Fabry-Pérot quantum cascade lasers (QCL). The emission maxima of the QCLs were located at 1393 and 1080 cm(-1). An optical system of parabolic mirrors and a ZnSe beam splitter combined the two laser beams and allowed a transmission cell to be probed with both QCLs simultaneously. The reaction mixture was pumped continuously through a cell that had an optical path of 48 microm. This dual QCL system allowed fast absorption measurements of the reaction mixture at two distinct wavenumbers. The reaction under study was the oxidation of sulfite to sulfate with hydrogen peroxide acting as oxidant. On-line measurements of the chemical reaction allowed direct, real-time monitoring of sulfate formation and hydrogen peroxide depletion.     

Fourier-transform instrument for high-resolution Raman spectroscopy of gases

An instrument is described for recording vibrational-rotational Raman spectra of gases with a resolution of 0.02-0.03 cm(-1). The Raman scattered light is collected by near forward scattering within the cavity of a single-mode, long-term, stabilized Ar-ion laser. The Raman light is analyzed in an ordinary step-scanned Michelson interferometer. To compensate for the low intensity of vibrational-rotational Raman spectra, the interferometer has a beam diameter of 160 mm. The movable mirror, weighing 2.7 kg, is mounted on a smoothly moving sledge, the stepwise motion being performed by three piezotranslators and controlled by three independent He-Ne laser beams. It is shown experimentally that it is possible for one to move the mirror with sufficient precision, using only 13% of the scan time in a typical experiment. In a preliminary spectrum of the fundamental vibration of(14) N(2), the width of the lines has been measured to 0.015 cm(-1).     

Parasitic diffuse reflection in a Fourier transform spectrometer yielding subharmonic ghosts and line-shape distortion

When using a high-resolution Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) in a cube-corner configuration, subharmonic ghosts are observed in the spectrum. These ghosts are attributable to parasitic diffuse reflections on the mirrors of the FTS arm. The reflected beams skip a part of the interferometer and travel a different path from the main beam thus experiencing a smaller optomechanical gain. These reflections are present in the reference laser channel as well as on the measurement channel, and each affect the estimated spectrum differently. The sampling grid generated by the reference laser has periodic errors that are synchronized with the fringe signal. The measured spectrum can therefore exhibit sampling jitter ghosts at submultiples of the reference laser wavenumber in addition to its own additive subharmonics. The diffuse reflection experiencing the nominal optomechanical gain, such as in a plane-mirror configuration, will impact directly on the instrument line shape and on the radiometric accuracy of the spectrometer since some radiation is not propagating at the expected angles in the instrument.     

Breadboard of a Fourier-transform spectrometer for the radiation explorer in the far infrared atmospheric mission

In preparation for a possible space mission, a breadboard version named REFIR-BB of the Radiation Explorer in the Far Infrared (REFIR) instrument has been built. The REFIR is a Fourier-transform spectrometer with a new optical layout operating in the spectral range 100-1100 cm(-1) with a resolution of 0.5 cm(-1), a 7-s acquisition time, and a signal-to-noise ratio of better than 100. Its mission is the spectral measurement in the far infrared of the Earth's outgoing emission, with particular attention to the long-wavelength spectral region, which is not covered by either current or planned space missions. This measurement is of great importance for deriving an accurate estimate of the radiation budget in both clear and cloudy conditions. The REFIR-BB permits the trade-off among all instrument parameters to be studied, the optical layout to be tested, and the data-acquisition strategy to be optimized. The breadboard could be used for high-altitude ground-based campaigns or could be flown for test flights on aircraft or balloon stratospheric platforms. The breadboard's design and the experimental results are described, with particular attention to the acquisition strategy and characterization of the interferometer. Tests were performed both in laboratory conditions and in vacuum. Notwithstanding a loss of efficiency above 700 cm(-1) caused by the poor performance of the photolithographic polarizers used as beam splitters, the results demonstrate the feasibility of using the spectrometer for space applications.     

波片和偏振片对外差干涉仪非线性的影响

为了减小外差干涉仪的非线性误差,必须明确波片和偏振片对非线性误差的影响机理。通过理论分析和试验发现,波片和偏振片位于偏振分光镜之前和之后对非线性的影响是不同的。如果把有误差的波片和偏振片放置在偏振分光镜前面,其误差将100%地引入非线性。如果将相同的这些光学元件安装在干涉仪里面,有可能影响非线性,但通常在高阶误差范围内。     

Absorbing beam splitter in a Michelson interferometer

The equality of the reflected and the transmitted irradiances by a beam splitter that consists of a thin absorbing coating (typically a metallic film) on a transparent plate is considered. The absorption and the phase difference between the reflected and transmitted fields are also studied. The lack of reversibility of this beam splitter introduces an asymmetry that is discussed for a Michelson interferometer.