Phase noise reduction by using dual-frequency laser in coherent detection

• A dual-frequency laser radar (DFLR) is proposed.
• A theoretical model of the effect of turbulence on laser is built.
• We compare the performance of single and dual frequency lidars experimentally.
• The dual-frequency laser is resistant to atmospheric turbulence.

Dual-frequency laser radar (DFLR) uses laser with two coherent frequency components as transmitting wave. The method is based on the use of an optically-carried radio frequency (RF) signal, which is the frequency difference between the two components. Due to the two optical waves are generally subject to the same first order phase noise, the synthesis wave is predicted to have a stronger resistance to atmospheric turbulence than the single-frequency wave. To the best of our knowledge, the model proposed in this paper is the first model that detailedly illustrates that the dual-frequency laser has an advantage over the single frequency laser in atmospheric turbulence resistance. Experiments are carried out to compare the performances of single and dual frequency lidars under atmospheric turbulence. The experimental results show that, with the increase of atmospheric turbulence intensity, the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of beat signal decreases and its central frequency stability (CFS) becomes worse in conventional single frequency coherent laser radar (SFCLR). While for the DFLR, the SNR and CFS are almost unaffected by atmospheric turbulence, which are in good agreement with the theoretical model.