A High-Power Pulsed Xenon Ion Laser As A Pump Source For A Tunable Dye Laser

An inexpensive pulsed xenon ion laser with peak power outputs up to 4 kW has been constructed and used as a pump source for a tunable rhodamine 6G dye laser with a 0.25-A bandpass in the yellow-red range of the spectrum. The dye laser is tunable from 5465 to 6300 A. Over 50 W are obtained at the peak of the tuning range. Copyright © 1975 by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc

Energy Transfer Collisions Between Vibrationally Excited Molecular Nitrogen And Atoms

Chemiluminescent reactions between metastable states of molecular nitrogen and atoms are used to determine the vibrational temperatures of these Non radiating molecular systems. The excitation rates of Na, Mg, Cd, and Zn are used to obtain the vibrational temperature of N2(X 1Σ) and N2(A 3Σ) states in a fast-flowing nitrogen afterglow. The exponential dependence of the intensities of the emission from atoms excited by the energy transfer collisions on the energy of the level yields vibrational temperatures on the order of 3100 K. We also report the presence of apparent strong selection rules on the total spin of the system which effectively suppresses energy transfer to the singlet states of magnesium. © 1986 American Institute of Physics

Optical Pumping In A Flowing Helium Afterglow With Additive Metal Impurity Atoms

It is demonstrated that in a Penning collision of optically oriented metastable helium atoms with an impurity metal atom such as barium, both the longitudinal and transverse components of spin angular momentum are conserved. This results in a polarization of the ion which may be detected by optical emission in the case of excited ion levels or absorption for the ground states. A series of experiments is described which demonstrates the spin dependence of the Penning-collision process. The magnetic resonance of excited-state ions may be observed directly; from the resonance-linewidth radiative lifetimes may be measured. © 1974 The American Physical Society

Tuning Characteristics And New Laser Lines In An Nd:YAP CW Laser

We have investigated the CW laser properties of Nd-doped yttrium-aluminum-perovskite (YAP) in a Kr are-lamp, pumped cavity, Seven laser transitions within the 4F3/2-4I11/2 multiplet have been observed. A simple Lyot filter is used to select the particular transitions. The tuning characteristics of the transitions at 1.0745 and 1.0845 μm were also obtained with the addition of a thin, uncoated etalon within the cavity. Tuning widths of 32 and 23 Å, respectively, were obtained. Copyright © 1986 IEE

A High Power, Tunable, Arc-lamp Pumped Nd-doped Lanthanum-hexaluminate Laser

An LNA (Nd-doped lanthanum-hex aluminate) crystal has been pumped with a cw, krypton arc lamp in a commercial Nd:YAG cavity. The cw output power greater than 6 W is obtained in a 28-cm long, plane mirror cavity. The free-running wavelength is near 1083 nm and has a width of about 0.8 nm. Inserting a 0.25 mm thick, uncoated solid etalon in the cavity permits the laser output to be continuously tuned from 1082 to 1084 nm by tilting the etalon. The laser bandwidth is reduced to below 0.016 nm. Over 3 W are obtained at the helium resonance transition. The maximum power output is limited by severe thermal lensing effects in the LNA crystal. The single, arc-lamp pump is operated at less than 70% of its maximum rated current; thus, substantial increases in the power output can be expected if crystal quality can be improved

Excitation Transfer Collisions And Electron Seeding Processes In A Resonantly Excited Sodium Vapor

A dense sodium vapor in a high-pressure buffer of argon has been simultaneously excited by short (4 ns) laser pulses from two lasers: the first tuned to one of the D line transitions at 589 nm and the second tuned to the photoionization threshold of the 3p states near 406 nm. The temporal evolution of the system was studied with and without the photoionizing laser pulses. At early times (∼100 ns) excited state populations are determined by energy transfer collisions between two laser-excited 3p atoms while the ion/electron density is controlled by super elastic heating of seed electrons followed by electron impact ionization of excited state atoms. At late times (∼ 1 μs) excited state populations are controlled by collisional- radiative recombination processes. Excitation transfer rates into the 4d, 5d, 6d, and 6s levels are measured. © 1981 American Institute of Physics

Electron Density Measurements In A Laser Induced Na Plasma

The optical emission spectrum of a recombining Na plasma is observed. The shift and broadening of the spectral line emission due to electron collisions is observed. Electron densities on the order of 5x1014 cm -3 are calculated from the shift measurements. The results agree well with electron densities obtained in the same system from Saha plots of excited state densities. © 1982 American Institute of Physics

Rare-gas, Collision-induced Shifts Of The ND States Of Sodium

We have measured line shifts of the 3P-nD transitions in sodium induced by collisions with helium, argon, and krypton for n=5 to 18. The shifts of the diffuse series transitions increase rapidly with principal quantum number and asymptotically approach the limit predicted by the Fermi model at high quantum numbers. © 1982 The American Physical Society

A Xenon Ion Pumped Blue Dye Laser

A pulsed xenon ion laser with an output power of 5 kW at 364.5 nm has been used as a pump source for several blue dyes. Broadband conversion efficiencies exceed 20 percent. The use of a birefringent filter provides tunable output in the blue region of the spectrum with a bandwidth of 0.08 nm and a pulse width of 120 ns. © 1978 IEE