Energy-scaling of a diode-pumped Alexandrite laser and prototype development for a compact general-purpose Doppler lidar

Abstract

We present design and performance data of an energy-scaled diode-pumped Alexandrite laser in single longitudinal mode operation developed as a beam source in a mobile general-purpose Doppler lidar. A maximum pulse energy in Q-switched operation of 4.6 mJ and a maximum average power of 2.7 W were achieved for a repetition rate range from 500 to 750 Hz with excellent beam quality of M2=1.1. Two rugged and compact demonstrator lasers were built and integrated into mobile lidar systems, where a bandwidth of approximately 3 MHz is measured. Measurements of atmospheric winds and temperatures were conducted during several field campaigns from summer 2022 to spring 2023.