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Guide star lasers for adaptive optics Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Roberts, William Thomas Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 02/10/2021 11:19:26 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/290501 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. 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ProQuest lnfbrmatk)n and teaming 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 GUIDE STAR LASERS FOR ADAPTIVE OPTICS by William Thomas Roberts, Jr. Copyright © William Thomas Roberts, Jr. 2001 A Dissertatioa Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF OPTICAL SCIENCES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 200 1 UMI Number 3023498 Copyright 2001 by Roberts, William Thomas, Jr. All rights reserved. A UMI UMI Microform 3023498 Copyright 2001 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Infonnation and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Mi 48106-1346 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA « GRADUATE COLLEGE As aenbcrs o£ the Final Exaaination Committee, we certify that ve have read the dissertation prepared bv Thomas Roberts entitled Guide Star Lasers for Adaptive Optics and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy mk Roger Ange Date' Richard L. Shoemaker Date 'flislol Robert Eckardt Date Date Date Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby cKtlfy that I have read this dissertation prepared under my dlreetl9i('^d reeonend tha^^t be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirt Dissertation/ Director, Roger ^gel Dat 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfilUnent of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to my advisor and mentor, Professor Roger Angel who has taught me, among other things, a small part of his gift of thinking 'outside the box'. Though I cannot yet approach his skill in grasping the fundamental parameters, I can at least begin to appreciate it. To the many other professors in Optical Sciences and Astronomy who have been of such valuable assistance, I must also say 'thank you'. In particular I acknowledge. Dr. Jim Palmer who has everything imaginable in his lab, and more impressively, knows where to find it; Dr. Robert Eckardt, whose calm, careful, methodical and thoughtful manner helped me through many a difficult obstacle; Professors Shoemaker, Powell and Kost, all of whom served as very valuable references in the vast field of laser physics; Prof. Ewan Wright for his enthusiastic instruction in laser resonators and beam propagation; and Professor Jack Gaskill and Dr. Don McCarthy for their insights, guidance and helpful discussions. I appreciate the opportunity afforded by James Murray and Bill Austin to learn from them at Lite Cycles, Inc. The staff at The Optical Sciences Center and Steward Observatory have repeatedly proven their immense value to their organizations and all of us who depend on them. Thanks to Brigitte Lawson, Barbara Myers, Anne Klocko, Michelle Coumoyer, Joy Facio, Kimberly Chapman and Doris Tucker. It has been a joy to work with each of you. Thanks to Chris Dainty at Imperial College for including me in the Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics workshop in 1997, and to Keith Wilson at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for reading the manuscript and for helpful suggestions. In addition, there have been many people whose friendship has made the years at the University of Arizona some of the happiest and most fulfilling of my life. Among those meriting special recognition are Georg Mohs, Sandra Bonilla, Katie Liao, Debra Osborne, Jake Jacobsen, Michal and Zora Mlejnek, Roland Sarlot, Elena Moise, Julie Swann, Celeste Steen, Matt Kenworthy and Doug Miller. I must thank Ty Martinez whose fateful warning, 'Don't do lasers!' I probably should have heeded. Special thanks to Der IM^Mewter, Norbert Sigrist who repeatedly helped me with 11th hour bailouts. One very close friend deserving special recognition is Heidi Ruffiier; without her encouragement, I never would have undertaken this degree, and without her repeated help in growing thin films, I might never have finished it. Without the help of George Kastis, I might not have passed prelims, and without the support and encouragement of Mitsuko Kono I might not have finished this dissertation. Thank you all very much. This work was supported by Air Force Research Grants F49620-96-1-0366, F49620- 99-1-0285 and F49620-00-1-0294. DEDICATION For their constant love, encouragement and support, this work is dedicated to parents, Bill and Bettie Roberts. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES 10 LIST OF TABLES 12 ABSTRACT 13 I Introduction and Summary 15 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION - IN SEARCH OF GUIDANCE 16 CHAPTER 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 20 2.1. Overview and Goals 20 2.2. Dye Laser 20 2.3. Raman Lasers 21 2.4. Temperature-Tuned NdrYAG Laser 22 2.5. Color Center Laser 22 2.6. MnrApatlte Laser 23 II Background and Review 25 CHAPTER 3. ATMOSPHERIC TURBULENCE EFFECTS 26 3.1. Astronomical Systems 26 3.2. Atmospheric Turbulence 27 3.2.1. The Structure Function 28 CHAPTER 4. WAVEFRONT CORRECTION SYSTEMS 31 4.1. Wavefront Sensor 31 4.2. Deformable Element 32 4.3. Guide Stars 33 4.3.1. Natural Guide Stars 34 4.3.2. Temporal Correlation 36 4.4. Artificial Guide Stars 37 4.4.1. Focal Anisoplanatism: The Cone Effect 38 4.4.2. Global Tilt 39 4.4.3. Scattering Mechanisms 39 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued CHAPTER 5. GUIDE STAR LASER REQUIREMENTS 42 5.1. The Sodium Atom 42 5.2. Thermospheric Sodium 48 5.2.1. Height and Abundance 48 5.2.2. Sodium Temperature and Doppler Broadening 49 5.3. Sodium Saturation 50 5.4. Implications for Guide star Lasers 52 5.4.1. Temporal Considerations 53 5.4.2. Spectral Considerations 56 5.5. Review of Sodium Guide Star Lasers 58 III Sodium Guide Star Laser Research 62 CHAPTER 6. DYE LASER DEVELOPMENT 63 6.1. Background 63 6.2. Ring Laser Development 64 6.3. Power Optimization 66 6.3.1. End Pumping 67 6.3.2. Faraday Etalon 70 6.3.3. Optical Rotator Etalon 77 6.4. Measurement of Mode Structure 79 6.5. Conclusions 82 CHAPTER 7. RAMAN LASER DEVELOPMENT 83 7.1. Introduction 83 7.1.1. Nonlinear Optics 83 7.1.2. Spontaneous Raman Scattering 84 7.1.3. Stimulated Raman Scattering 87 7.2. Review of Potential Raman Laser Candidates 89 7.2.1. Raman-active Materials 89 7.2.2. High Power Lasers 91 7.2.3. Potential Combinations 95 7.2.4. Previous Work 99 7.3. CaW04 Raman-shifted Laser Experiments 100 7.3.1. CaW04 Shifted NdrYAG 100 7.3.2. CaW04 Raman-shifted NdrYGAG 105 7.4. Conclusion 113 8 TABLE OP CONTENTS—Continued CHAPTER 8. THE COLD ND:YAG LASER 116 8.1. Background 116 8.2. Design 118 8.2.1. Zigzag Slab 119 8.2.2. Cooling Assembly 122 8.2.3. Indium Contacting 124 8.2.4. SiOa Waveguide Layer 129 8.3. Testing and Results 132 8.3.1. Cooling and NdiYAG TVansmission Tests 132 8.3.2. Lasing Tests 133 8.4. Analysis and Conclusions 135 CHAPTER 9. COLOR CENTER LASER 138 9.1. Color Centers 138 9.2. Color Center Laser Development 142 9.2.1. Thermal Defocus Measurements 144 9.3. Conclusions 147 CHAPTER 10. THE APATITE LASER 149 10.1. Introduction and Background 149 10.2. Apatite (MnrCas (P04)3 F) 151 10.3. Apatite Fluorescence 156 10.4. Lasing Efforts 159 10.4.1. Three Level Atom Model 159 10.4.2.