RELAXATION MECHANISMS AND GAS LASER MEDIA.
Abstract
General experimental methods were developed for the study of relaxation rates, production of population inversions in gases and the study of line broadening processes in gas lasers. These methods were applied to a large number of laser transitions in the neutral and singly-ionized noble gases and metal vapor atoms. A number of important new gas laser species were developed during the course of this research including the pulsed and cw argon ion laser transitions in the blue-green visible spectrum and a variety of pulsed and cw transitions in the yellow and red spectrum of singly-ionized zinc. The argon ion laser transitions discovered in this work still constitute the strongest available source or single-mode coherent radiation in the visible. The zinc ion laser transitions we have recently discovered illustrate the practicability of a new method of laser excitation based on charge exchange collisions in gas discharges. The latter method requires much lower threshold currents than conventional ion laser systems and offers the possibility of improved efficiency. A number of new experimental techniques were developed in the course of this research which are based on digital methods of data acquisition and analysis. These methods have permitted order-of-magnitude improvement in accuracy and sensitivity over conventional methods of approach to the same problems. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1969
- Accession Number
- AD0696651
Entities
People
- William R. Bennett Jr.
Organizations
- Yale University