Project Title:
08.01-0003
900633
An Iodine Standard Lamp
Abstract:
An innovative lamp source that would have the capability for being an on orbital
standard for both wavelength and spectral responsivity calibrations of optical sensors
will be built. The lamp will use well characterized fluorescence from a molecular
species (I2). A unique feature of our approach is that the I2 lamp will be excited
by a stable light source that only populates a single quantum level in I2. Since
the emission characteristics of I2 are so well known, this extremely selective excitation
results in emission lines of fixed frequency and intensity over the entire wavelength
range of 530 to 1340 nm. AN analogous approach using an alternate lamp gas could
extend this range into the ultra violet (225 to 450 nm). The primary objective of
the Phase I program would be a laboratory demonstration of an optically pumped I2
lamp as a calibration source for wavelength and radiometric response. Phase I results
would be used to design a prototype, miniature lamp that would be constructed and
tested in Phase II. This miniature standard would be valuable for any future missions
that used sensors in the optical region.
The optical source would have potential for manufacturers of optical sensors for
space applications. A small lamp source that provided both wavelength and spectral
response calibrations would also be extremely useful to any laboratory performing
optical measurements. For example, the lamp could be incorporated into commercial
spectrophotometers that are in most university and industrial laboratories.
lamp, wavelength, spectral response, iodine, calibration, sensors