A study is reported of conversion of ~3 μ narrow-band infrared radiation in cesium vapor. Variation of the pump frequency is used to vary the region of efficient conversion. Measurements are reported of the efficiency and spectral width of the conversion process obtained using pump radiation of the 1.064 μ wavelength.
A study was made of the dependences of the efficiency of resonant parametric frequency conversion in sodium vapor on the infrared radiation wavelength, vapor density, and detuning from two-photon pump resonance. It was found in this conversion system that for each infrared wave the conversion efficiency had three maxima on tuning the frequency of two-photon pumping over the region of a forbidden transition. The principal maximum was realized for accurate two-photon resonance, and the two other maxima resulted from a rise in the cubic susceptibility close to single-photon sum-frequency resonances. A quantum efficiency of 35% was achieved for a 9.26 μ infrared wave.