Pressure dependence of laser oscillation and superfluorescent emission from an optically pumped CF4 laser

Experiments on pressure dependence of a CF₄ laser have been carried out to elucidate dynamic characteristics of CF₄ molecules pumped by CO₂ lasers. The results are followed by a model calculation which characterizes collisional quenching of the energy levels related to the stimulated emission. The enhancement of the laser output induced by buffer-gas addition, which was found under specific conditions, is discussed in relation to the competition between laser and superfluorescent emissions.     

Amplification and saturation in a CO2 waveguide amplifier

An ir CO₂, dc current pumped, optical waveguide (WG) amplifier has been built, and its active medium optical parameters measured for several CO₂ emission lines, and their dependence from active medium total pressure, discharge current and temperature was investigated.High gain is found which, coupled with relatively high saturation power in the WG fundamental mode and ease of fabrication with this technology in long (up to 1.5 m) lengths, indicates promising use to efficiently amplify high spectral and spatial purity output of a short, highly tunable WG laser up to power levels suited for nonlinear spectroscopy and optical pumping. The dependence of the small signal gain coefficient and of the saturation parameter for individual rotational lines on the radiation intensity was computed using experimentally known parameters of the discharge plasma. The computation was carried out using the two mode rate equation approach for CO₂–N₂–He gas mixtures. A satisfactory agreement between theoretical and experimental results was obtained.Work supported by G.N.S.M.-C.N.R. and M.P.I.     

Application of the optoacoustic effect in optically pumped submillimeter lasers

The dependence of the optoacoustic signal generated in an optically pumped submillimetre laser system on gas pressure and modulation frequency has been studied experimentally and the results accounted for theoretically. With care an extracavity optoacoustic cell containing the laser gas diluted with air can be used to stablize the pump laser frequency to maximum absorption but this does not always optimise laser output.     

Optically pumped cw CH2DOH fir laser: New lines and frequency measurements

We have measured the output powers and relative polarizations of 66 cw FIR laser lines from CH₂DOH (including 50 not previously reported), which were optically pumped by a CO₂ laser. The frequencies of 43 of these lines were measured relative to stabilized CO₂ lasers.     

Color center laser pumped with a DCM dye laser

A CW, DCM dye laser has been used to pump a RbCl:Li crystal in a color center laser. The DCM dye laser was pumped by the 488 nm and 514.5 nm lines of an argon ion laser. When used in a broad band configuration the dye laser had a power output in the TEM₀₀ mode in excess of 600 mW at a wavelength of 655 nm. An output power in excess of 10 mW at 2.73 μm was possible from the RbCl:Li crystal in a Burleigh FCL for an input power of 600 mW at 655 nm. This method of pumping for the RbCl:Li alleviates the need for both argon ion and krypton ion laser pumps for the Burleigh FCL. All three crystals can be pumped to the specification power levels with a single argon ion laser.     

Lifetime-measurements of alkali-molecules excited by different laserlines

Absorbing different lines of acw-argon ion laser or a He-Ne-laser the alkali molecules Na₂, K₂, Rb₂ and Cs₂ can be pumped into different rotational-vibrational levels of an excited electronic state. The lifetimes of these states have been measured using the phase shift technique at a modulation frequency of 18 Mc/sec. Because of collisions with the always present alkali atoms the excited molecules may undergo collision-induced transitions to other states and their lifetimes are dependent on the atomic pressure. This dependence was measured and the spontaneous lifetimes were obtained by extrapolation against zero pressure. Different collision processes are discussed which compete with the unperturbed fluorescence.     

Quasi-tunable I2-laser for absorption measurements in the near infrared

The properties and output data of an I₂-laser pumped by a pulsed dye laser have been investigated. The separation between lines to which the laser can be tuned in the region 1.0–1.3 μm is typically 0.5 cm^-1. Lines are emitted in R-P doublets with a separation of 5–15 cm^-1. The possibility of measuring low gas concentrations by recording the intensity ratio of the components in selected doublets has been tested in atmospheric water vapour.     

Ultraviolet laser emission at 337 and 358 nm by collisional energy transfer in fast electron-beampumped,high-pressure Ar-N2 mixtures

Successive laser emission at 337.1 nm and 357.7 nm in the second positive band of N₂ have been observed in high-pressure Ar-N₂ gas mixtures excited by a high current (15 kA) and fast rise time (8 ns) relativistic electron beam. Laser action at 357.7 nm was confirmed in the pressure range 450–6000 torr where output intensity was approximately independent of pressure, while strong pressure dependence of the emission at 337.1 nm was observed in a rather limited pressure range of 760–3000 torr. From the results of spectrally resolved pressure dependences of the laser lines, the processes of successive laser oscillation at these two wavelengths are discussed.     

Tunable te-CO2 laser-pumped formaldehyde far-infrared lasers: Offsets, assignment, and superfluorescence

Sixty and three absorption transitions in D₂CO and H₂CO, respectively, have produced a number of far infrared laser lines when they are pumped by an etalon-tuned TE-CO₂ laser. Almost all the absorption transitions pumped previously by a free runing TE-CO₂ laser have been efficiently pumped by the etalon tuned CO₂ laser and found to have offset within ±500 MHz from the line-center of the relevant CO₂ pump lines. 22 (1) absorption and 63 (4) emission lines of D₂CO (H₂CO) are assigned. Some of these lines have generated superfluorescence. In paticular, the D₂CO 319-m line pumped by CO₂-9P(32) delivered an output energy of approximately one half that of the well-known D₂O 66-m. It is shown that a large electric dipole moment and an appreciable amount of fractional population in the lower level of the pump transition of this line are responsible to the superfluorescence.     

A 1.5 W CW optically pumped 12.08 μm NH3 laser

Order-of-magnitude increase in output power and efficiency has been obtained from the new CW 12.08 μm NH₃ Raman laser optically pumped by low-pressure CO₂ laser. The 12.08 μm output power is analyzed as a function of the main operational parameters.     

New optically pumped FIR laser lines in CD3OH

In this work we report laser action in 69 new FIR laser lines in CD₃OH optically pumped by a regular cw CO₂ laser. We have performed measurements of laser wavelength, optimum pressure of the gas, relative polarization and intensity on all lines, including some previously known.     

Investigation for long wavelength fir laser lines for EPR studies: New lines from CH2=CF2

The results described in this work are part of a systematic search for long wavelength laser lines to be used in high magnetic field EPR applications and in plasma diagnostic. Four new far-infrared laser lines of CH₂ = CF₂ (1,1 difluoroethylene), optically pumped by a waveguide CO₂ laser, have been discovered and characterized in wavelength, polarization relative to the pumping radiation and offset relative to the CO₂ center frequency. New measurements of polarization and offset of 5 already known laser lines are also reported. A table of all of the known CO₂ pumped FIR laser lines from this molecule is given.     

Operating parameter optimization of optically pumped CH3OH far-infrared laser

By solving the density matrix equations of a quantum system, the output power intensity of an optically pumped CH₃OH FIR laser (CH₃OH-OPFIRL) was calculated by means of iteration method, and the spectral characteristics were got. Base on the calculation, optimization of operating parameters including operating gas pressure, pumped power and output coupling coefficient of the CH₃OH cavity laser were systematically studied. Experimental, a series of FIR emissions of the CH₃OH cavity laser pumped by TEA-CO₂ laser with 9P(16) line were measured. The experimental results were in good agreement with theoretical calculations. The project was supported by the Special Research Foundation of Doctorate Station in University of P.R.C.     

Optical properties and laser performance of neodymium doped scheelites CaWO4 and NaGd(WO4)2

Nd-doped CaWO₄ (CWO) and NaGd(WO₄)₂ (NGWO) single crystals with good optical quality have been grown by the Czochralski technique. The neodymium distribution coefficient in these matrices is about 0.4 for CWO and close to unity for NGWO. Polarized absorption and emission spectra have been recorded at room temperature and used to calculate the absorption and stimulated emission cross-sections.1 and 2% Nd : CWO and 1 % Nd:NGWO laser rods have been tested in a cavity longitudinaly pumped by an 1 W AIGaAs laser diode and compared to Nd : YAG and Nd:YVO₄ rods in the same conditions. The 2% Nd: CWO rod exhibits the best performance with slope efficiencies of 64%, higher than in the case of YAG and equal to the YVO₄ samples. The dependence of the laser output power versus the diode temperature has been measured for all these materials. The laser output of Nd: CWO was found to be nearly as stable as for Nd : YVO₄ and much more stable than in the case of Nd : YAG. A CWO microchip has also been tested for the first time to our knowledge.     

Frequency measurements of 3 to 11 THz laser lines of CH3OH

We measured the frequencies of 12 far-infrared laser lines generated in a high- frequency Fabry-Perot laser cavity containing methanol, pumped by a CO₂ laser. The frequencies are in the range 2.8 to 11.4 THz (105.4 to 26.2 µm). Ten of the measured frequencies are higher than 7 THz, and help to fill the laser frequency gaps in this region. Five of the measured lines are new. The 11.4 THz line has the highest frequency of an optically pumped laser ever measured with the CO₂ laser heterodyne technique.This work has been financed by the Brazilian Government - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), and by the United States Government - NASA Grant W-18, 623.Contribution of NIST, not subject to U.S. Copyright.     

Frequencies of cw FIR laser lines for use in laser magnetic resonance spectroscopy

A transversely pumped far-infrared laser cavity has been used to discover two optically pumped laser lines: the 357.7 μm line from H₂C=CF₂ and the 242.3 μm line from CH₃OH. Using heterodyne techniques, the frequencies of fourteen far-infrared laser emissions have been measured, six for the first time. PACS  07.57.Hm; 42.55.Lt; 42.62.Eh     

Simultaneous operation of distributed feedback and grating tuned dye lasers

Multiphoton absorption (MPA) of the CO₂ laser 9 μmR(30) line (pulse width 60 ns, FWHM) by NH₃ and NH₃/N₂ mixtures was studied as a function of gas composition, pressure and laser fluence (Φ). MPA occurs for Φ smaller than those that have been used for optically pumped NH₃/N₂ lasers; consequently a simple two-level absorption model will not adequately describe laser action in these systems. The photon energy deposited in NH₃/N₂ mixtures can be calculated from the MPA cross-section and the fluence dependence of the illumination geometry. An examination of the efficiency of conversion of this absorbed energy to the reported radiant energy of optically pumped NH₃/N₂ lasers shows an optimum value which depends on pressure, and gas composition.     

光学泵浦的锂分子激光

以可见染料激光泵浦锂分子,在高于900℃的蒸气温度下,获得了由理分子A¹∑_u⁺态跃迁到基态X¹∑_g⁺的位于874—912nm区的许多光泵激光输出。谐振腔使输出信号增强约9倍。对部分激光跃迁的振转量子数作了标识。 关键词：     

Optically pumped laser action in perchloryl fluoride

Strong optically pumped laser action has been obtained in perchloryl fluoride, FCIO₃, excited by a CO₂ laser. Thirty four new lines were observed between 16.3 and 17.7, with outputs of up to 4 mJ.     

Multiwatt optically pumped ammonia laser operation in the 12–13 μm

Design and operating caracteristics of high pulse repetition rate NH₃ laser producing up to 20 W of average output power are described. The NH₃ laser, operating in the 12–13 μm region was optically pumped with a high pulse repetition rate TEA CO₂ laser. Dependences of the NH₃ laser output on the pump energy, ammonia and buffer gas pressures and pulse repetition rate have been studied. The conversion efficiency of up to 16% has been received.