We present an overview of a narrow-bandwidth, compact and efficient emitter for a general-purpose atmospheric Doppler lidar based on diode-pumped Alexandrite. The laser operates in single-longitudinal-mode with a very narrow linewidth of 3 MHz at the resonance line of potassium (770 nm) and with an average output power of 2.4 W. The high electro-optical efficiency >2 %, the excellent beam quality of M2 = 1.1, the repetition rate of 750 Hz and the pulse energy of 3.2 mJ are tailored to the autonomous long-term operation of the lidar system. Four demonstrator lasers were built and integrated into mobile lidar systems and measurements were conducted during several field campaigns from summer 2022 to spring 2023. The transfer of the technology to the deployment in an iron lidar operating in the UV is demonstrated in the laboratory by intra-cavity frequency conversion. Remarkably, all parameters of the IR laser, especially the efficiency, are almost preserved.
Munk et al. (Thu,) studied this question.