title: Field-widened Michelson interferometer for spectral discrimination in high-spectral-resolution lidar: theoretical framework.
abstract: A field-widened Michelson interferometer (FWMI) is developed to act as the spectral discriminator in high-spectral-resolution lidar (HSRL). This realization is motivated by the wide-angle Michelson interferometer (WAMI) which has been used broadly in the atmospheric wind and temperature detection. This paper describes an independent theoretical framework about the application of the FWMI in HSRL for the first time. In the framework, the operation principles and application requirements of the FWMI are discussed in comparison with that of the WAMI. Theoretical foundations for designing this type of interferometer are introduced based on these comparisons. Moreover, a general performance estimation model for the FWMI is established, which can provide common guidelines for the performance budget and evaluation of the FWMI in the both design and operation stages. Examples incorporating many practical imperfections or conditions that may degrade the performance of the FWMI are given to illustrate the implementation of the modeling. This theoretical framework presents a complete and powerful tool for solving most of theoretical or engineering problems encountered in the FWMI application, including the designing, parameter calibration, prior performance budget, posterior performance estimation, and so on. It will be a valuable contribution to the lidar community to develop a new generation of HSRLs based on the FWMI spectroscopic filter.
authors.forename: Zhongtao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Yongying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yudi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Yupeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lulin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Liming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yibing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Kaiwei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bai