Application of upconversion detection to pulsed CO_2 lidar

In this paper the application of an upconversion detector to pulsed CO(2) lidar is investigated. In this device a nonlinear IR crystal would be used to convert 10-microm lidar radiation into the visible region for conventional detection with a photomultiplier tube. A pulsed CO(2) lidar can be substantially improved with an upconversion detector configured for rejection of thermal background radiation using a narrowband filter for the up-converted signal or a cold filter front end. The sensitivity of the upconversion detector with the narrowband visible wavelength filter is estimated to be 2 orders of magnitude better than that of the usual direct detection diode. The cold filter can improve upconversion detection to nearly the signal-shot limit. These upconversion detectors are not limited by speckle noise as is a pulsed heterodyne detector.