Inversionless gain in a three-level system driven by a strong field and collisions

Inversionless gain in a three-level system driven by a strong external field and by collisions with a buffer gas is investigated. The mechanism of populating of the upper laser level contributed by the collision transfer as well as by relaxation caused by a buffer gas is discussed in detail. Explicit formulae for analysis of optimal conditions are derived. The mechanism developed here for the incoherent pump could be generalized to other systems.Comment: RevTeX, 9 pages, 4 eps figure