Optoacoustic Laser Stark spectroscopy and FIR laser action on CH3Br using a waveguide CO2 laser

The optoacoustic spectrum of CH₃Br around 10 m band lines of a tunable cw waveguide CO₂ laser is investigated. Several new infrared absorptions are observed and most of the correspond ing molecular transitions are assigned. Far infra red laser action is reported by pumping with the same CO₂ laser: pump offsets are given using the Transferred Lambs dip (TLD) technique. A new FIR laser emission is obtained and assigned. An optoacoustic Laser Stark spectroscopy technique is used to investigate off resonance infrared tran sitions.     

New CW FIR laser lines obtained in ammonia pumped by a CO2 laser, using the Stark tuning method

We report fifty seven CW FIR emissions observed in NH₃, by resonant pumping with a CO₂ laser. Exact coincidences between IR absorption lines of the gas and emission lines of the CO₂ laser have been carried out by Stark tuning. IR frequency shifts, up to 30 GHz, have allowed the pumping of forty three NH₃ transitions.These FIR emissions correspond to thirty one different wavelengths in the 50–400 m range; eighteen ones of them are new emitted wavelengths by pumping with the CO₂ laser.     

Electric field effects on an optically-pumped HCOOH FIR laser and Zeeman laser theory

Electric field effects have been investigated on the output power of six far-infrared (FIR) laser lines from H¹²COOH optically-pumped by a CO₂ laser with its polarization arranged perpendicular to the Stark field. Optoacoustic signals observed on the pump lines were hardly affected by the applied electric field up to 0.6 kV/cm. By neglecting the electric field effects on the pump transitions, Zeeman laser theory has been applied to the FIR laser transitions. Numerical calculation predicts the observed FIR output power as a function of electric field. Experessions for oscillation frequency and intensity in homogeneous limit are given, which may be applicable to any FIR Stark laser so far as the pump transition is free from electric field effects.     

Assignments of optically pumped CD3OH laser lines

Six FIR laser lines from CD₃OH pumped by the 10R(36) and the 10R(18) CO₂ laser lines are assigned to specific rotational energy levels in the excited C–0 stretch state. It is found that their upper laser levels are shifted by a Fermi resonance between the C–0 stretch vibration and the third and forth harmonics of the torsional mode. The Fermi resonance shifts are +0.332 cm^–1 and +2.251 cm^–1 for the upper laser levels pumped by the 10R(36) and the 10R(18) CO₂ laser lines, respectively. Calculated frequencies of the pump and the laser transitions agree with those of the pump CO₂ laser lines and the observed FIR laser lines within estimated accuracy.     

New Optically Pumped FIR Laser Lines and Frequency Measurements from CH3OD

This work reports the discovery of 45 new optically pumped far-infrared (FIR) laser lines from CH₃OD in the range 42.6 m to 207.2 m. A highly efficient CO₂ laser was used as the pump laser for an Optically-pumped Fabry-Perot FIR laser. The frequencies of most of the new lines were measured in the range 1.7 to 6.4 THz. Twenty-eight CO₂ lines were used as pump lines; nineteen of these had frequencies lower than those previously used to pump CH₃OD in a FIR laser. Sixteen of the new FIR lines had absorption transitions which belong to the OD bending vibrational mode.     

IR absorption measurements and new FIR emission lines in CH3OH by use of a frequency-tunable CW waveguide CO2 laser

The IR absorption in CH₃OH in the vicinity of CO₂ laser lines has been measured quantitatively by use of a 300 MHz tunable waveguide CO₂ laser with output powers of about 3 W. Information on frequency offsets from the CO₂ line centers, small signal and saturated absorption coefficients of FIR laser pump transitions is obtained. Some stronger pump transitions with frequency offsets larger than 50 MHz gave rise to the observation of 8 new FIR emission lines with wavelengths from 43 to 125 μm.     

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.     

Measurements and assignments of new large offset CD3OH FIR laser lines

By using an acoustooptic modulator we extend the 300 MHz tunability of a waveguide CO₂ laser to 480 MHz. The CD₃OH was optically pumped by the 10R(32), 10R(34), and 10R(36) CO₂ laser lines, and 17 new FIR laser lines were discovered. The Stark effect on previously known FIR laser lines was investigated, and some tentative FIR laser lines assignments are suggested.     

Submillimeter laser action of CW optically pumped CF2Cl2 (Fluorocarbon 12)

Eleven new CW far infrared (FIR) laser lines have been observed in the 600 m–1200 m range from the CF₂Cl₂ (Fluorocarbon 12) molecule optically pumped by a CO₂ laser. A 510^–4–10^–3 accuracy is achieved in the measurement of the FIR wavelengths.The frequency offset between the CO₂ pump center and the absorption line centers are measured using the transferred Lamb dip technique. Owing to a recent spectroscopic study of the CF₂ ³⁵Cl₂ molecule three lines may be assigned with great confidence as rotational transitions in thev ₆ vibrational band 923 cm^–1 of this main isotope.     

New cw FIR laser lines from optically pumped silyl fluoride (SiH3F)

FIR laser action has been observed for the first time in a molecule containing silicon: silyl fluoride, SiH₃F. Eleven new cw optically pumped lines between 187 and 1014m were detected from both open resonator and waveguide structures. Although the chlorine analogue, SiH₃Cl, showed strong absorption at every CO₂ laser frequency no FIR laser emission was detected at the pump powers available.     

High power FIR NH3 laser using a folded resonator

A compact FIR laser cavity having a couple of folding mirrors was designed. By inserting this FIR cavity into the pump TE CO₂ laser resonator, we observed 19 FIR NH₃ laser lines of which 4 new lines were included. The maximum output power was over 500 W at 90 m.     

Assignment of FIR Laser Lines of Hydrazine

With 228 known FIR laser emissions, hydrazine is the most prolific laser active molecules after methanol. But, due to the complexity of its rovibrational spectrum, only a few assignments of hydrizine FIR laser transitions are found in literature. Here we analyze 44 FIR laser lines of hydrazine excited by 20 different CO₂ pumps. The pump transitions are compared to available assignments of IR amino-wagging transitions. We propose values for the J and K quantum numbers involved in 41 FIR laser transitions, for 22 of them we give also the symmetry species.     

Acoustooptic extension of the frequency tunability of CW CO2 lasers: New FIR lasers emissions from CH3OH and13CH3OH

We have increased the frequency tunability of our CW waveguide CO₂ lasers by means of an acoustooptic amplitude modulator, operating at the fixed frequency of 90 MHz. The up-shifted, or down-shifted, laser optical sideband can be generated independently by adjusting the orientation of the modulator. The efficiency is larger than 50%. The frequency tunability of the CO₂ laser around each laser line is thus increased by 180 MHz. To demonstrate the possibilities of this method, a source composed of the above modulator and of a CW, 300 MHz tunable waveguide CO₂ laser has been used for the search of new large offset FIR laser lines from optically pumped CH₃OH and¹³CH₃OH molecules. As a result 15 and 10 new large offset laser lines were discovered respectively. New assignments of some laser lines are also proposed. We have also measured the Stark effect, the offset, and the polarization of other already known lines. In particular a Stark effect frequency tuning of about 1 GHz is demonstrated for a laser line at 208.399 m.     

Far-Infrared Laser Assignments for Methylamine

Reported far-infrared laser lines for five different transition systems of CH₃NH₂ optically pumped by a CO₂ laser have been identified spectroscopically through a high-resolution Fourier transform infrared study of the C-N stretching band together with CO₂-laser/microwave-sideband broad-scan and Lamb-dip measurements. From the infrared analysis plus previous far-infrared (FIR) results for the ground vibrational state, quantum numbers have been assigned for seven methylamine FIR laser transitions and their C-N stretching pump absorptions coincident with the CO₂ laser lines. The assignments are confirmed through the use of closed frequency combination loops that also provide improved FIR laser frequencies to spectroscopic accuracy.     

Emission Spectra Inside the Ammonia s-Multiplets Pumped by a Line-Narrowed Tunable CO2 Laser

By using a line narrowed high power tunable laser we have analysed the FIR emission spectrum inside some , compact sQ, sR k-multiplets. Jumps between adjacent k-systems are observed , although tunable emissions of dominant lines are produced. The more favourable gain overlap of the K Raman lines in the fundamental vibrational level induces an off-resonance dominance of this process respect to the standard Raman scattering in the excited vibrational level. The AC Stark splitting has been also observed when the CO₂ laser is posed in resonance with the absorption lines.     

New large offset far-infrared laser lines from CD3OH

The CD₃OH molecule has been investigated for new far-infrared laser lines by optically pumping with a cw waveguide CO₂ laser. The increased tunability (300 MHz) with respect to a conventional CO₂ laser permits to pump many new CD₃OH lines. As a consequence 108 new laser lines have been discovered, ranging from 42.9 to 1155 m in wavelength. On some lines the effect of an electric Stark field has been investigated demonstrating a laser frequency tuning. The total number of known FIR laser lines from CD₃OH is increased to about 340 making this molecule the most prolific together with CH₃OH.     

A compact fir ring laser with open resonator and variable output coupling

We describe the design, construction and first experimental results with an open triangle FIR ring resonator with Michelson interferometer output coupling, which we combined with a Brewster-windowless 10W CO₂ pump laser to a compact laser package of 1m length. The achieved stability of power and frequency of this system is very high, typically on the order of ±0.01% over several hours and <20kHz per hour at 800GHz. For the design, we investigated the balance of all laser processes and determined the optimum dimensions for the open resonator cavity. This analysis is based on a radially homogenous overall laser model, including commonly accepted simplified rate equations together with molecular parameters for weak FIR laser lines. In accordance with the modelling the efficiency on the very most prominent lines is better than with conventional waveguide lasers, giving up to 4 times better efficiencies especially on lines with low absorption pump transitions. Several laser lines, however, have substantially enhanced pump thresholds on purely copropagating emission, suppressing laser operation below about 10W pump power threshold. We show that this can not be due to effects from the interferometer.     

New FIR laser lines from CD3OD optically pumped by a CO2 waveguide laser

In this work we report new FIR laser lines from CD₃OD optically pumped by a CO₂ waveguide laser. The wide tunability of this laser (290 MHz) makes it possible to pump absorption lines with large frequency offset relative to the CO₂ laser line center, which are not possible by using conventional CO₂ lasers. As a consequence 19 new laser lines have been discovered, ranging from 38.0 m to 455.2 m in wavelength. For all lines, precise frequency offset measurements between the CO₂ line center and the center of the absorber CD₃OD line were performed using the transferred Lamb-dip technique. We also present direct Doppler-free offset measurements of infrared absorption, obtained within the FIR laser cavity itself, using optoacoustic detection.Work supported by FAPESP, CNPq, FAP-Brasil and CNR-Italy     

13CH3OH and13CD3OH optically pumped fir laser: New large offset emission and optoacoustic spectroscopy

27 new, large offset, FIR laser lines from¹³CH₃OH and one from¹³CD₃OH have been discovered by pumping with a high tunability waveguide CW CO₂ laser. Optoacoustic measurements of isotopic methyl alcohol have also been performed and the pump offsets of the new and of previously known lines have been measured and checked. Frequency tunability by Stark effect has been observed for 6 strong lines. Some assignments are discussed.