title: Temporal characteristics of narrow-band optical filters and their application in lidar systems.
abstract: The temporal characteristics of two different narrow-band optical filters at 532 nm are reported. Both filters operate on the 4P(1/2) - 8S(1/2) atomic transition of potassium vapor, where the 4P(1/2) state is excited by a 770-nm, 10-ns laser pulse. The filters operate on the principle of circular birefringence induced by either the Faraday effect or two-photon transition, which is confirmed by experiments. The characteristic decay times of the filters are 5 and 0.015 mus, which is significant for the design of optical gating and signal processing with matched filters for ocean lidar.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Billmers
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Herczfeld
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Contarino