Relative merit of χ (3) and χ (2) SHG by charged water microdroplets – Implications for LIDAR

Abstract: We investigated second harmonic generation (SHG) from neutral and electrically charged water microdroplets of uniform size. We found that angular distribution, polarization, and conversion efficiency of the SHG emission did not change within applied surface charge densities from 0 to 7.2×10−5 C/m2. The latter is consistent with previously observed charge sensitive SHG efficiency on water interfaces if one considers particular experimental conditions. A brief discussion of the applicability of SHG for optical detection of charges in atmospheric clouds is given. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]