https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202023704008
The Relevance of Hanle Effect on Na and Fe Lidars
Physics Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523 U.S.A.
* Email: joeshe@colostate.edu
Published online: 7 July 2020
A laser resonant scattering process involves two steps, excitation and emission. That emission occurs spontaneously is well accepted. That the atoms involved in the emission are excited coherently by a laser beam leading to a non-isotropic angular distribution of emission (an antenna pattern) is not well known. The difference between coherent and incoherent excitation leads to the Hanle effect. In this paper, I discuss the physics of Hanle effect, and its influences on the backward scattering intensity of Na, K, and Fe atomic transitions and the associated Na and Fe resonant fluorescence lidar systems.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2020
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
