Electric field effects on the efficiency of optically pumped submillimeter lasers

The FIR power dependence on an applied electric field is carefully investigated for optically pumped lasers. The enhancement effect observed for many laser lines, both "orthogonal" and "parallel," is analyzed as a function of different parameters such as gas pressure, laser threshold, cavity tuning, and transitions selection rules. Measurements of the IR absorption of the gases are also carried out by a Stark optoacoustic technique. Absorption increases are observed at low electric field values. The experimental results disagree with the previously proposed linear Hanle effect explanation. They are explained with the increase in the pump saturation intensity, also detected with the transferred Lamb-dip technique. The combined effects of the absorption increase and of the small-signal gain curve decrease are shown to qualitatively explain the observed FIR enhancement features.