F2 pumped NO: laser oscillation at 218 nm and prospects for new laser transitions in the 160-250 nm region

The authors recently proposed a scheme (Tech. Dig. Conf. Quantum Electron Laser Sci., April, 1989) to produce powerful coherent radiation at several wavelengths between 160 and 250 nm by optically pumping a high-lying electronic level of nitric oxide with radiation from a molecular fluorine laser. Details of this scheme and the results of a kinetic model which describes the observed absorption of F₂ laser radiation by NO are presented. The successful operation of the scheme to produce laser oscillation at 218 nm is described. The possibility of using this scheme to produce laser oscillation at other wavelengths is discussed, and further extensions to produce coherent radiation at wavelengths shorter than 158 nm are proposed