Health of Planet Earth Monitored with the Help of Kazan University's Research

Kazan Federal University grows crystals for American lidars.

In December 2016, representatives of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration commissioned the Department of Quantum Electronics and Radio Spectroscopy of KFU to grow and prepare active elements for Ce: LiCaAlF6 ultraviolet lasers that are used for remote sensing.

The research group of the Laboratory of Magnetic Radiospectroscopy and Quantum Electronics at the Institute of Physics of KFU is one of the leading centers for the studies of fluoride crystals, their optical and laser characteristics. Its employees research the crystaline active medium that generate laser light directly in the ultraviolet range of the spectrum with wavelength tuning.

Aleksey Nizamutdinov, Senior Research Associate of the Lab and Associate Professor, explains, "Recently we worked out a technique for synthesizing LiCaAlF6 and LiSrAlF6 single crystals which are homologous and are in high demand on the market. High quality of the crystals is evidenced by the fact that on the active media Ce: LiCaAlF6 prepared by our laboratory we achieve 50% of the differential efficiency of laser generation, which is close to the limit of this material".

A whole network of monitoring centers is organized in the USA, including NASA centers in Langley, Baltimore, Los Angeles, San Jose, and atmospheric research centers in Colorado, Alabama and Houston. Their laboratories are equipped with ultraviolet lasers - both in ground installations and on airplanes. Kazan University currently supplies crystals of active media for this vast network.