Proof of the Feasibility of Coherent and Incoherent Schemes for Pumping a Gamma-Ray Laser

Abstract

The most productive approaches to the problem of the gamma-ray laser have focused upon upconversion techniques in which metastable nuclei are pumped with long wavelength radiation. At the nuclear level the storage of energy can approach tera-Houles per liter for thousands of years. This annual report focuses upon our approach that is the nuclear analog to the ruby laser. It embodies the simplest concepts for a gamma-ray laser and not surprisingly, the greatest rate of achievement in the quest for a subAngstrom laser was realized in that direction. For ruby the identification and exploitation of a bandwidth funnel were the critical keys in the development of the first laser. There was a broad absorption band linked through efficient cascading to the narrow laser level. The current report focused upon two issues. The first concerned the extent to which the breakthrough discovery of the giant pumping resonances would alter the prescription for a gamma-ray laser formulated nearly a decade ago. Detailed in the first preprint is the recomputation of the model for a realistic device. The second emphasis fell upon experiments we conducted to pinpoint the excitation energies of the resonances for 180Ta and 123Te.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 31, 1990
Accession Number
ADA230897

Entities

People

  • Colm B. Collins

Organizations

  • University of Texas at Dallas

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Electrons
  • Emission
  • Energy Levels
  • Gamma Rays
  • Laser Science
  • Linear Accelerators
  • Measurement
  • Neutron Flux
  • Nuclear Energy Levels
  • Nuclear Physics
  • Nuclear Structure
  • Nuclei
  • Pulsed Power
  • Quantum Properties
  • Spectra
  • Standards

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Nuclear and Radiation Engineering.
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy