Detector, linear Fabry-Perot

While ionization by linearly polarized fields has been well studied, there is only one report of ionization by a circularly polarized field, the ionization of Na by an 8.5 GHz field.36 In the experiment Na atoms in an atomic beam pass through a Fabry-Perot microwave cavity, where they are excited to a Rydberg state using two pulsed tunable dye lasers tuned to the 3s — 3p and 3p —> Rydberg transitions at 5890 A and —4140 A respectively. The atoms are excited to the Rydberg states in the presence of the circularly polarized microwave field which is turned off 1 fis after the laser pulses. Immediately afterwards a pulsed field is applied to the atoms to drive any ions produced by microwave ionization to a microchannel plate detector. To measure the ionization threshold field the ion current is measured as the microwave power is varied. 

Receiving equipment for aircraft astrophysical investigations in the far infrared has been developed and flown in 1974-1975 on board the AN-30 aircraft. Four types of infrared and submillimeter detectors mainly of photoresistor type are used in the wavelength region from 10 mkm to 1 mm. Thermal background at the detectors is limited by cooled bandpass filters and by optimal matching of the detectors with the telescope optics. The spectral filters used are combinations of quasiresonance metal mesh filters of different structure and Q-factor from 2 to 7 with the Yamada cut-off powder filters. A tunable Fabry-Perot interferometer, a polarimeter for linear polarization measurements and an aircraft 25 cm-telescope are briefly described. 

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