Abstract

A broadband CARS system designed to measure flame temperature from hot nitrogen CARS spectra is described, and a source of temperature error is identified and attributed to nonlinear behavior of the optical multichannel diode array detector. Detector sensitivity, linearity, uniformity, and noise are discussed. Data are presented for the Tracor-Northern TN-1223-4GI and TN-6132 detectors. It is shown that the nonlinearity observed with CARS signals is a function of radiation density at the detector input plane. This nonlinearity is associated with saturation in the microchannel plate intensifier and should be observable with short duration high intensity light pulses other than CARS, and with intensified detectors (both diode array and vidicon) other than the Tracor-Northern. The nonlinearity observed with the TN-1223-4GI detector can be eliminated by reducing the radiation density. At maximum sensitivity the detector shot noise contributes a significant component to the shot-to-shot variation of the spectral profile of the CARS signal.

© 1984 Optical Society of America

Nonlinearity and image persistence of P-20 phosphor-based intensified photodiode array detectors used in CARS spectroscopy

D. R. Snelling, G. J. Smallwood, and R. A. Sawchuk
Appl. Opt. 28(15) 3226-3232 (1989)

Effect of detector nonlinearity and image persistence on CARS derived temperatures

D. R. Snelling, G. J. Smallwood, and T. Parameswaran
Appl. Opt. 28(15) 3233-3241 (1989)

Precision of multiplex CARS temperatures using both single-mode and multimode pump lasers

D. R. Snelling, G. J. Smallwood, R. A. Sawchuk, and T. Parameswaran
Appl. Opt. 26(1) 99-110 (1987)

Single pulse CARS noise: a comparison between single-mode and multimode pump lasers

D. R. Snelling, R. A. Sawchuk, and R. E. Mueller
Appl. Opt. 24(17) 2771-2778 (1985)

Optical multichannel analysis with rapid mass storage of spectra: application to CARS measurements of temperature fluctuations

David Klick, Kenneth A. Marko, and Lajos Rimai
Appl. Opt. 23(9) 1347-1352 (1984)