Experimental demonstration of multiple pulse nonlinear optoacoustic signal generation and control

Generating underwater acoustic signals from a remote, aerial location by use of a high-energy pulsed infrared laser has been demonstrated. The laser beam is directed from the air and focused onto the water surface, where the optical energy was converted into a propagating acoustic wave. Sound pressure levels of 185 dB re microPa (decibel re microPa) were consistently recorded under freshwater laboratory conditions at laser-pulse repetition rates of up to 1000 pulses/s. The nonlinear optoacoustic transmission concept is outlined, and the experimental results from investigation of the time-domain and frequency-domain characteristics of the generated underwater sound are provided. A high repetition rate, high-energy per pulse laser was used in this test under freshwater laboratory conditions. A means of deterministically controlling the spectrum of the underwater acoustic signal was investigated and demonstrated by varying the laser-pulse repetition rate.     

High-range-resolution velocity-estimation techniques for coherent Doppler lidars with exponentially shaped laser pulses

On the basis of an analysis of the autocovariance of the complex heterodyne signal, some novel algorithms are derived and investigated for recovering the nonuniform Doppler-velocity coherent-lidar profiles within the lidar resolution interval conditioned by the sensing laser-pulse length. The case of exponentially shaped sensing laser pulses is considered. The algorithm performance and efficiency are studied and illustrated by computer simulations (based on the use of pulse models and real laser pulses), taking into account the influence of additive noise and radial-velocity fluctuations. It is shown that, at some reasonable number of signal realizations used and with appropriate data processing to suppress the noise effects, the Doppler-velocity profiles can be determined with a considerably shorter resolution interval in comparison with that (usually accepted as a lower bound) determined by the pulse length.     

Partial-response signaling for phase-change optical data storage without electronic equalization

We describe the application of partial-response (PR) signaling in rewritable phase-change optical data storage. No electronic filter is necessary to shape the readout signal to a certain PR target. A PR-like waveform at the output of the read channel is directly achieved by optical recording. A genetic algorithm is used to optimize the parameters for writing and therefore to minimize the difference between the actual readout signal and the ideal PR waveform. With a laser wavelength of 0.66 microm and an objective lens with a numerical aperture of 0.6, four linear densities were examined: 0.4, 0.3, 0.25, and 0.2 microm/bit (without modulation). Results showed that the linear density of 0.25 microm/bit can be realized on a rewritable digital-versatile disk.     

Real-time tracking of time-varying velocity using a self-mixing laser diode

A new method is proposed for estimating the time-varying velocity of a moving target with a low-cost laser sensor using optical feedback interferometry. A new algorithm is proposed to track velocity variations from real-time analysis of the output signal of a self-mixing laser diode. This signal is strongly corrupted by a multiplicative noise caused by the speckle effect, which occurs very often with noncooperative targets used in many industrial applications. The proposed signal processing method is based on a second order adaptive linear predictor filter, which enables us to track the digital instantaneous Doppler frequency, which is proportional to the velocity. A model of the laser diode output signal is proposed, and it is shown that the sensor and its associated algorithm have a global first-order lowpass transfer function with a cutoff frequency expressed as a function of the speckle perturbations, the signal to noise ratio and the mean Doppler frequency. Numerical as well as experimental results illustrate the properties of this sensor.     

Time-resolved explosion dynamics of H2O droplets induced by femtosecond laser pulses

Series of time-resolved still images of the explosion dynamics of micrometer-sized water droplets after femtosecond laser-pulse irradiation were obtained for different laser-pulse intensities. Amplified pulses centered around a wavelength of 805 nm with 1-mJ energy and 60-fs duration were focused onto the droplet to initiate the dynamics. Several effects, such as forward and backward plumes, jets, water films, and shock waves, were investigated. Additionally, the influence of different pulse durations produced by chirping the laser pulses was observed.     

Sensitivity of point- and line-source laser-generated acoustic wave to surface flaws

Laser generation and air-coupled detection were combined as a hybrid ultrasonic technique for the inspection of surface flaws in rails. Narrowband acoustic signals were generated using a formed laser source by focusing the laser light to a point and to a line on the surface of the rail. The pulse energy, and therefore the intensity of the laser source, varied such that the generated signal transitioned from the weak thermoelastic to the strong ablative regime. The detection of flaws using a laser-generated surface acoustic wave, in the presence of surface flaws, was compared between both point and line laser sources operating under different pulse energy levels. The line source was found to be more sensitive to the presence of surface flaws than a point source. The sensitivity of the laser-generated acoustic signal appeared to be independent of the severity of the flaw and, within the ablative regime, independent of the laser-pulse energy. Theoretical analysis is provided to explain the underlying cause that influences the interaction of a formed laser-generated surface acoustic wave to surface flaws and how this sensitivity may vary between the thermoelastic and ablative regimes.     

空时级联滤波红外点目标检测

时域递归最大值滤波是一种较易实现的红外小目标检测方法,但是在递归过程中存在目标膨胀的缺陷,影响了该方法的应用。通过研究分析,提出了条件最小值滤波替换最小值滤波抑制目标膨胀,较好解决了目标膨胀问题。结合空域最大中值滤波预测背景,将点目标和强噪声保留在预测残差中,再通过递归最大值滤波对预测残差进行时域递归处理,以完成能量累积提高信噪比,设计完成的算法实现了对尺度为 1 个像素,运动速度小于 1 像素每帧的点目标的可靠检测。     

Remote photoacoustic detection of liquid contamination of a surface

A method for the remote detection and identification of liquid chemicals at ranges of tens of meters is presented. The technique uses pulsed indirect photoacoustic spectroscopy in the 10-microm wavelength region. Enhanced sensitivity is brought about by three main system developments: (1) increased laser-pulse energy (150 microJ/pulse), leading to increased strength of the generated photoacoustic signal; (2) increased microphone sensitivity and improved directionality by the use of a 60-cm-diameter parabolic dish; and (3) signal processing that allows improved discrimination of the signal from noise levels through prior knowledge of the pulse shape and pulse-repetition frequency. The practical aspects of applying the technique in a field environment are briefly examined, and possible applications of this technique are discussed.     

Frequency-locked light scattering: real-time Doppler velocimetry with closed-loop feedback control

Real-time measurement capability of a frequency-modulated filtered light-scattering- (FM FLS) Doppler velocimeter has been demonstrated. Doppler-shifted light from a frequency-modulated Ti:sapphire laser scattered from a supersonic flow is imaged through a potassium vapor cell and is detected by FM spectroscopy. The FM signal is used in closed-loop feedback control of the laser frequency to lock the Doppler-shifted scattered light to the resonance frequency of the filter. The difference between the filter resonance frequency and the laser frequency when the scattered light is frequency locked to the filter resonance is the flow-induced Doppler shift. Changes in flow velocity are tracked by changes in laser frequency, which is subsequently measured to obtain the Doppler shift. The frequency-locking capability of the technique was achieved with use of a simple analog controller. The random Doppler shift measurement errors (2varsigma) were approximately 20 MHz, which correspond to velocity measurement errors for the real-time measurement of less than 3% in a 10-Hz bandwidth.     

Stray Light Rejection in Rotational Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy by use of a Sodium-Seeded Flame

A common experimental problem with rotational coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) is undesired spectral interference that is due to stray light from the primary laser beams. Also, for the most developed approach, dual-broadband rotational CARS, practical measurements often suffer from stray light interference from the narrow-band laser, inasmuch as the CARS signal is produced inherently in the spectral vicinity of the narrow-band laser beam. An optical filter does not provide a sufficiently sharp transmission profile, thus leading to signal loss and spectral distortion of the rotational CARS signal. An atomic filter consisting of a sodium-seeded flame is presented here as a solution to the problem, and its usefulness was demonstrated in dual-broadband rotational CARS experiments.     

Effective laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) detection using double pulse at optimum configuration

A short laser pulse is irradiated on a sample to create a highly energetic plasma that emits light of a specific peak wavelength according to the material. By identifying different peaks for the analyzed samples, their chemical composition can be rapidly determined. The characteristics of the laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) plasma are strongly dependent on the ambient conditions. Research aimed at enhancing LIBS intensity is of great benefit in advancing LIBS for the exploration of harsh environments. By using double-pulse LIBS, the signal intensity of Al and Ca lines was enhanced by five times compared to the single-pulse signal. Also, the angles of the target and detector are adjusted to simulate samples of arbitrary shape. We verified that there exists an optimal angle at which specific elements of a test sample may be detected with stronger signal intensity. We provide several optimum configurations for the LIBS system for maximizing the signal intensity for the analysis of a nonstandard aluminum sample.     

Effects of detector nonlinearity and specimen size on the apparent thermal diffusivity of NIST 8425 graphite

With the use of a graphite thermal conductivity standard it is demonstrated that optical detector non-linearity, coupled with excessive laser pulse energies, is primarily responsible for the anomalous specimen size dependence of the thermal diffusivity measured by the laser-pulse technique. High laser pulse energies also result in an anomalous positive temperature dependence for thin specimens near room temperature, in contrast to the expected negative temperature dependence. Using moderately thick specimens and attenuated laser pulses yields excellent agreement with thermal diffusivity calculated from standard thermal conductivity data.     

Comparison of BaTiO3 optical novelty filter and photothermal lensing configurations in photothermal experiments.

Photorefractive BaTIO3 is used as an optical novelty filter to highlight the high spatial frequency components of the photothermal signal. A real-time phase grating recorded in BaTIO3 acts as a matched rejection spatial filter for the probe laser. This reduces the stationary background from the optical signals thereby increasing signal contrast ratios. Rejection of the monotonous stationary signal provides a powerful means of improving the photothermal signal. This paper describes the construction of this novel apparatus and the experiments performed in order to compare its performance with photothermal lensing results. A theory that explains photothermal signal filtering with BaTIO3 as an adaptive spatial frequency filter is presented. Results comparing the optical signals obtained in a photothermal lensing experiments and those obtained in the BaTIO3 optical novelty filter experiments are presented. The optical novelty filter signals demonstrate a remarkable improvement in the signal contrasts for moderate photothermal-induced phase shifts.     

Pulsed indirect photoacoustic spectroscopy: application to remote detection of condensed phases

The technique of pulsed indirect photoacoustic spectroscopy is applied to the examination of free liquid surfaces, and the prospects are assessed for remote detection and identification of chemical species in a field environment. A CO(2) laser (tunable within the 9-11-mum region) provides pulsed excitation for a variety of sample types; the resulting photoacoustic pulses are detected at ranges of the order of a few centimeters. The phenomenon is investigated as a function of parameters such as temperature, sample depth, laser-pulse energy, pulse length, and beam diameter. The results are in good agreement with a theoretical model that assumes the mechanism to be expansion of air resulting from heat conduction from the laser-heated surface of the sample under investigation. Signal and noise processing issues are discussed briefly, and the possible extension of the technique to ranges of the order of 10 m is assessed.     

一种被动拖曳声纳阵列信号模拟器设计

声纳基阵信号模拟器是一种实用的可仿真实际检测目标及使用环境的阵元级信号发生器。设计的被动拖曳声纳阵列信号模拟器,仿真了拖曳阵的拖船干扰时域信号和空间传播特性、目标辐射信号以及环境噪声。通过预设定拖船干扰宽带功率谱,以AR模型拟合该功率谱,利用海底、海面对声场的一次反射作用仿真了拖船干扰的空间多途信道。采用插值滤波器,解决了宽带信号阵元间延时的时延精确控制问题。     

Optimized differential absorption radiometer for remote sensing of chemical effluents

A differential absorption radiometer sensor that was optimized for near-perfect (to approximately 2%) correction of the absorption by ambient atmospheric species (e.g., water) is described. A target gas is detected remotely by its IR signature viewed through a bandpass filter centered at one of its strongest lines. A second radiometric measurement obtained through a bandpass filter centered at a frequency optimized to match the absorption by an atmospheric trace species (e.g., water vapor) at the sample filter frequency provides near-perfect correction for dominant background absorption effects. The net absorption (emission) by the target gas was obtained through subtraction of the reference signal of the second measurement from that of the target gas measurement. For multiple species detection, additional sample and reference filter pairs can be configured. Predictions show that detection of strong absorbers such as dimethyl methylphosphonate at an optical density below 100 mg/m2 is possible from distances of < 6 km.     

脉冲激光成像探测系统回波信号仿真

研究激光脉冲回波信号特性并建立其数学模型,是应用回波信号处理技术处理回波,生成目标三维激光仿真图像的基础.首先建立了激光器发射脉冲信号能量在时间和空间上的分布模型,然后依据成像目标的激光图像仿真模板,采用累加激光脚印各采样区发射脉冲信号与对应目标散射面单位冲激响应卷积值的方法,生成了探测器接收回波仿真信号,最后分析了影响回波信号仿真精度的因素.通过对激光脚印采样区个数的合理设置实现了激光脉冲回波波形的精确仿真.     

基于植被表面的激光测高仪回波波形模型化分析

针对激光测高仪中发射的激光脉冲并不是高斯对称的,并且由于目标物的影响,使用一系列标准高斯函数的和来拟合回波脉冲并不精确,本文提出改变回波分解的取模模型,通过正确模型的选取来改善回波位置的精确度.该方法采用比高斯函数复杂的对数正态函数和广义高斯函数,采用LM非线性拟合算法拟合回波波形.实验结果表明,通过对植被等回波数据的...     

基于FPGA和DSP的激光陀螺信号处理电路设计

研究机械抖动激光陀螺的信号读出系统,设计激光陀螺的信号处理电路。光电转换后的微弱电流信号经过前置放大电路转化为电压方波信号,在FPGA中进行鉴相解调以及可逆计数,最后由DSP实现机抖偏频解噪和低通数字滤波。与激光陀螺联合测试并将结果输出至上位机,结果表明设计的电路实现了对激光陀螺输出信号的有效采集,满足激光陀螺功能测试的需要。     

Calculation of ultrasonic surface waves from an extended thermoelastic laser source

A method is developed to calculate ultrasonic surface waveforms generated by an extended laser source, operating in the thermoelastic regime of laser-pulse energy density. This approach integrates over a suitably weighted distribution of point surface centers of expansion, for observation to within 1 mm of the edge of the source. Power spectra as well as both horizontal and vertical displacements are presented and discussed for ultrasonic waveforms on an aluminium surface, for incident laser pulses having Gaussian lateral profiles of various sizes. Far from the source, the waveform is dominated by a dipolar Rayleigh (R) wave, whose amplitude and spectral content depend on laser spot size. Weak, monopolar pulses also occur at the intersection of bulk pressure and shear wavefronts with the surface (denoted assP andsS, respectively). Close to the source, thesP wave amplitude approaches that for theR wave, and overlaps theR wave for large source sizes. The fall-off with distance for bothsP andR waves is given. Finally, the changes in pulse shape and amplitude are calculated when anR wave from an extended thermoelastic source is reflected or transmitted by a right-angled corner of an aluminium block.