Investigation of Optical Fibers for Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) Spectroscopy in Reacting Flows (Postprint)

Abstract

The objective of this work is to investigate the feasibility of intense laser-beam propagation through optical fibers for temperature and species concentration measurements in gas-phase reacting flows using coherent anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) spectroscopy. In particular, damage thresholds of fibers, nonlinear effects during beam propagation, and beam quality at the output of the fibers studied for the propagation of nanosecond (ns) and picosecond (ps) laser beams. It is observed that ps pulses are better suited for fiber-based nonlinear optical spectroscopic techniques, which generally depend on laser irradiance rather than fluence. A ps fiber-coupled CARS system using multimode step-index fibers is developed. Temperature measurements using this system are demonstrated in an atmospheric pressure, near-adiabatic laboratory flame. Proof-of-concept measurements show significant promise for fiber-based CARS spectroscopy in harsh combustion environments. Furthermore, since ps-CARS spectroscopy allows the suppression of non-resonant background, this technique could be utilized for improving the sensitivity and accuracy of CARS thermometry in high-pressure hydrocarbon- fueled combustors.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2012
Accession Number
ADA562206

Entities

People

  • Anil K. Patnaik
  • James. R. Gord
  • Paul S. Hsu
  • Sukesh Roy
  • Terrence R Meyer
  • Waruna D. Kulatilaka

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Fiber Optics
  • Fibers
  • Laser Beams
  • Lasers
  • Light Sources
  • Measurement
  • Nonlinear Optics
  • Optical Fibers
  • Optical Materials
  • Optics
  • Picosecond Time
  • Raman Scattering
  • Raman Spectroscopy
  • Scattering
  • Spectroscopy
  • Turbines

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy