Dm. Tratt et Ms. Bowers, OPTIMIZATION OF COHERENT LIDAR PERFORMANCE WITH GRADED-REFLECTANCE TRANSMITTER RESONATOR OPTICS IN THE LOW EQUIVALENT FRESNEL NUMBER REGIME, Applied optics, 35(24), 1996, pp. 4820-4826
Using a diffractive eigenmode treatment to model the laser output we s
how that graded-reflectance resonator optics offer significant efficie
ncy benefits over conventional hard-edge coupled unstable resonators i
n the context of coherent detection lidar applications. Extending prev
ious research pertinent to the high equivalent Fresnel number regime,
we have modeled the optimum performance of a notional super-Gaussian c
oupled cavity as a function of the key resonator parameters in the low
equivalent Fresnel number (<3) regime. The findings from this study a
re applicable to the design of coherent lidar transmitters operated wi
thin this regime. (C) 1996 Optical Society of America