Parametric study of an excimer-pumped, nitrogen Raman shifter for lidar applications

A krypton fluoride (KrF) excimer-pumped, nitrogen Raman shifter has been studied for use in a wavelength-optimized solar-blind Raman lidar. First Stokes conversion efficiencies (248 ? 263 nm) as high as 12% have been observed in N2:He gas mixtures. Both oscillator-amplifier and self-seeded configurations were investigated. Wavelength-dependent effects were investigated with a Nd:YAG laser operating at 532 and 266 nm. A comparison of KrF- and Nd:YAG-pumped Raman shifting has shown that the beam quality of the excimer laser was a major factor in limiting the maximum first Stokes conversion efficiency.