Development of a NIR-VIS-UV lidar echo emulator

The sum-frequency generation (SFG) technique generated the beam at 355 nm from both previous rays. For the SFG, two Periodic Poled Lithium Niobate (PPLN) crystals were used. To optimize the output at 355 nm, the temperature of the PPLN crystals was controlled using Peltier elements. A LabView program was designed to handle all the configuration parameters of both echoes (long and short) and the laser. The software also controls the optimal temperatures where the highest power is reached at 355 nm.

The overall system was assembled as an elegant breadboard for easy transportation. The NIR-VIS-UV LEE offers all the requirements for exhaustive characterization of the lidar detection chains at three wavelengths and a high dynamic range.

The LEE capable of emulating the echoes of a spatial lidar at three wavelengths (355 nm, 532 nm, and 1064 nm) was developed. In general, it enables the characterization of the critical optical parameters of the detection chain of a space or airborne lidar. The LEE allows short overlapping echo with long echo with 63 dB dynamic range. In-depth characterization of the lidar detection module will evaluate compliance with the requirements for which it was designed and feed future designs with actual figures from the lidar detection chain.

The demanding requirements of the European H2020 HOLDON project have been met regarding peak power, pulse shape, pulse width, dynamic range.

Techniques as SHG and SFG, commonly used in light sources in continuous mode, have been used in a pulsed way with satisfactory results even in this low power application.

First equipment developed

LIDAR echo emulator

Co-Authors:

Rodríguez Cortina,

 Adamiec Monica

Juan Barbero,
Xabier Quintana,

Andreas Morten