Temporal characteristics of narrow-band optical filters and their application in lidar systems

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 mu s, which is significant for the design of optical gating and signal processing with matched filters for ocean lidar. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.