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Optics Letters

Demonstration of a diode-pumped metastable Ar laser

Jiande Han, Leonid Glebov, George B. Venus, Michael C. Heaven

Published Dec 12, 2013• 80 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Pulsed lasing from optically pumped rare gas metastable atoms (Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe) has been demonstrated previously. The laser relies on a three-level scheme, which involves the (n+1)p[5/2](3) and (n+1)p[1/2](1) states from the np(5)(n+1)p electronic configuration and the metastable (n+1)s[3/2](2) level of the np(5)(n+1)s configuration (Racah notation). Population inversions were achieved using relaxation from ((n+1)p[5/2](3) to (n+1)p[1/2](1) induced by collisions with helium or argon at pressures near 1 atm. Pulsed lasing was easily achieved using the high instantaneous pump intensities provided by a pulsed optical parametric oscillator excitation laser. In the present study we examine the potential for the development of a continuous wave (CW) optically pumped Ar laser. We report lasing of the 4p[1/2](1)→4s[3/2](2) (912.547 nm) transition following CW diode laser excitation of the 4p[5/2](3)←4s[3/2](2) line (811.754 nm). A pulsed discharge was used to generate Ar 4s[3/2](2), and the time-resolved lasing kinetics provide insights concerning the radiative and collisional relaxation processes.

DOI
10.1364/ol.38.005458

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Pulsed lasing from optically pumped rare gas metastable atoms (Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe) has been demonstrated previously. The laser relies on a three-level scheme, which involves the (n+1)p5/2 and (n+1)p1/2 states from the np(5)(n+1)p electronic configuration and the metastable (n+1)s3/2 level of the np(5)(n+1)s configuration (Racah notation). Population inversions were achieved using relaxation from ((n+1)p5/2 to (n+1)p1/2 induced by collisions with helium or argon at pressures near 1 atm. Pulsed lasing was easily achieved using the high instantaneous pump intensities provided by a pulsed optical parametric oscillator excitation laser. In the present study we examine the potential for the development of a continuous wave (CW) optically pumped Ar laser. We report lasing of the 4p1/2→4s3/2 (912.547 nm) transition following CW diode laser excitation of the 4p5/2←4s3/2 line (811.754 nm). A pulsed discharge was used to generate Ar 4s3/2, and the time-resolved lasing kinetics provide insights concerning the radiative and collisional relaxation processes.
Optically pumped alkali vapor lasers are currently being developed in several laboratories. The objective is to construct high-powered lasers that also exhibit excellent beam quality. Considerable progress has been made, but there are technical challenges associated with the reactivity of the metal atoms. Rare gas atoms (Rg) excited to the np(5)(n+1)s (3)P(2) configuration are metastable and have spectral properties that are closely similar to those of the alkali metals. In principle, optically pumped lasers could be constructed using excitation of the np(5)(n+1)p←np(5)(n+1)s transitions. We have demonstrated this potential by observing gain and lasing for optically pumped Ar(*), Kr(*) and Xe(*). Three-level lasing schemes were used, with He or Ar as the collisional energy transfer agent that established the population inversion. These laser systems have the advantage of using inert reagents that are gases at room temperature.
Lasing on the 62P1/2→62S1/2(D1) resonance transition of atomic Cs at 894.3 nm has been demonstrated in mixtures of Ar, ethane, and Cs vapor by the photoexcitation of ground state Cs-Ar collision pairs and subsequent dissociation of diatomic, electronically-excited CsAr molecules (exciplexes or excimers). The blue satellites of the alkali D2 lines provide a pathway for optically pumping atomic alkali lasers on the principal series (resonance) transitions with broad linewidth (>2 nm) semiconductor diode lasers. In this paper we discuss different variations of this new laser system and the experiments of the initial demonstration.
The optical pumping of atoms is a central process in many applications of atomic physics, such as laser cooling and the precise determination of physical constants. Popular methods for producing metastable helium atoms in supersonic expansions are discharge and electron-impact excitation. However, both approaches yield helium atoms in two metastable states, 21S0{2}^{1}{S}_{0}21S0​ and 23S1{2}^{3}{S}_{1}23S1​, which limits the applications of these highly energetic species. This study presents an experimental scheme in which the 21S0{2}^{1}{S}_{0}21S0​ state population is depleted via excitation to the 41P1{4}^{1}{P}_{1}41P1​ state, using diode-laser radiation. The results suggest nearly 100% depletion efficiency at all beam velocities studied.
Diode-pumped alkali laser (DPAL) technology offers a means of achieving high-energy gas laser output through optical pumping of the D-lines of Cs, Rb, and K. The exciplex effect, based on weak attractive forces between alkali atoms and polarizable rare gas atoms (Ar, Kr, Xe), provides an alternative approach via broadband excitation of exciplex precursors (XPAL). In XPAL configurations, we have observed multi-quantum excitation within the alkali manifolds which result in infrared emission lines between 1 and 4 μm. The observed excited states include the 42FJ states of both Cs and Rb, which are well above the two-photon energy of the excitation laser in each case. We have observed fluorescence from multi-quantum states for excitation wavelengths throughout the exciplex absorption bands of Cs-Ar, Cs-Kr, and Cs-Xe. The intensity scaling is roughly first-order or less in both pump power and alkali concentration, suggesting a collisional energy pooling excitation mechanism. Collisional up-pumping appears to present a parasitic loss term for optically pumped atomic systems at high intensities, however there may also be excitation of other lasing transitions at infrared wavelengths.
Abstract We investigate the fluorescence and lasing emissions in neutral Ar induced by intense femtosecond deep-ultraviolet laser pulses. It is shown that when the pump wavelength is tuned from 260.9 nm to 265.4 nm, the side fluorescence intensities are significantly changed, and the bidirectional cascaded lasing pathway shifts from the transitions of 3d′ 2 [ 5 / 2 ] 3 o →4p′ 2 [ 3 / 2 ] 2 and 4p′ 2 [ 3 / 2 ] 2 →4s 2 [ 1 / 2 ] 1 o (yielding the 1327 and 840 nm lasing emissions) to the transitions of 3d 2 [ 7 / 2 ] 3 o →4p 2 [ 5 / 2 ] 2 and 4p 2 [ 5 / 2 ] 2 →4s 2 [ 3 / 2 ] 1 o (yielding the 1350 and 842 nm emissions). By recording fluorescence intensity dependence on the p