Lasing on the D lines of sodium pumped by free→free transitions of Na-Xe collision pairs
Abstract
Lasing on the D1 and D2 lines of Na (589.6 and 589.0 nm, respectively) has been generated simultaneously by photoexciting free→free transitions of thermal Na-Xe collision pairs. Pumping the blue satellite of the Na D2 line in Na/Xe mixtures (λ ≈ 560 nm) selectively interacts with Na-Xe pairs having an instantaneous internuclear separation of ∼5 Å and culminates in the population of both Na (32PJ) fine structure levels. The spectral width of the laser excitation spectrum is 1.3 nm (centered at 560.1 nm) and the 32P3/2→32S1/2 (D2) laser linewidth was measured to be 9.2 ± 0.6 GHz, which is consistent with a coefficient of 18.4 MHz/Torr for broadening of the D2 589.0 nm transition by Xe.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Dec 10, 2012
- Source ID
- 10.1063/1.4769456
Entities
People
- J. D. Hewitt
- James Gary Eden
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign