Optically pumped CW dimer lasers

Bound-bound electronic transitions in simple molecules are generally suited to realize efficient multiline laser oscillation in the visible and ultraviolet spectral region. By means of optical excitation with argon and krypton lasers, CW laser oscillation could be obtained for various homonuclear diatomic (dimer) molecules such as Li2, Na2, K2, Bi2, S2, Te2, and I2, with emission of several hundred laser lines in the spectral range of about 400-1350 nm. The principles of these lasers and the general dependence of threshold and output power on temperature, pressure, length of vapor zone, and some other parameters is discussed. To achieve satisfactory CW operation, low quenching losses for the upper laser level population and a sufficiently fast relaxation of the population of the lower laser level are necessary. Under optimum operation conditions, efficiencies up to 15 percent, multiline output powers up to 400 mW, and single line-single frequency output powers up to 200 mW were achieved. These dimer lasers are three-level laser systems. In case of coherent optical excitation, two-photon or Raman-type processes contribute to the amplification process. Due to these mechanisms the forward direction is strongly favored and in a ring laser system spontaneous unidirectional oscillation is obtained. By means of a suitable three-level model, analytical and numerical calculations of gain profiles are performed and compared with experiments. These optically pumped molecular lasers are suited for various spectroscopic and kinetic investigations, for frequency standards or as simple and efficient systems to convert pump laser radiation into other spectral regions.