Forecast of intense near- and mid-IR laser radiation propagation along slant atmospheric paths

Abstract

The effectiveness of the use of intense radiation from different near- and mid-IR laser sources propagating along high-altitude slant optical paths is numerically estimated on the basis of the optical model of the Earth’s atmosphere developed by the authors. Different laser sources, including chemical oxygeniodine laser (COIL), chain chemical DF laser, and carbon-monoxide (CO) laser are considered with different optical weather conditions taking into account linear and nonlinear optical effects. A COIL source is shown to be the most preferable in terms of the total laser power transmitted along a path, because of weak atmospheric attenuation and minimal effects of nonlinear factors. In addition, this laser source shows the best performance in terms of the mean radiation intensity at a receiver. Among chemical multiwavelength lasers, DF lasers lead in terms of the power transfer function.