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Optics Letters

Cs 8943 nm laser pumped by photoassociation of Cs-Kr pairs: excitation of the Cs D_2 blue and red satellites

Jason D. Readle, J. T. Verdeyen, James Gary Eden, Steven J. Davis, Kristin L. Galbally-Kinney, Wilson T. Rawlins, William J. Kessler

Published Nov 18, 2009• 38 citations

Abstract

Lasing on the D(1) transition (6P1/22-->6S1/22) of Cs has been observed by photoassociating Cs-Kr atomic pairs with a tunable, pulsed dye laser. Pumping of the blue or red satellites of the Cs D(2) line (62P3/2<==>62S1/2), peaking at approximately 841.1 nm and approximately 853 nm (respectively) in Cs/Kr/C(2)H(6) gas mixtures, provides a photodissociation laser in which the CsKr excimer parent molecule is not, at any point in the pumping process, in a bound electronic state. Relative to the absorbed pump pulse energy, laser slope efficiencies greater than or approximately 5% have been measured when the Cs number density is in the range of 5x10(14)-1.5x10(15) cm(-3) and the pump wavelength is 841.1 nm. Direct photoexcitation of the Cs 6P3/22 state at 852.1 nm under these conditions is a less efficient pathway for pumping the 894.3 nm laser, presumably as a result of competing nonlinear optical processes such as 1+2 resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization of the alkali atom.

DOI: 10.1364/ol.34.003638

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Lasing on the D(1) transition (6P1/22-->6S1/22) of Cs has been observed by photoassociating Cs-Kr atomic pairs with a tunable, pulsed dye laser. Pumping of the blue or red satellites of the Cs D(2) line (62P3/2<==>62S1/2), peaking at approximately 841.1 nm and approximately 853 nm (respectively) in Cs/Kr/C(2)H(6) gas mixtures, provides a photodissociation laser in which the CsKr excimer parent molecule is not, at any point in the pumping process, in a bound electronic state. Relative to the absorbed pump pulse energy, laser slope efficiencies greater than or approximately 5% have been measured when the Cs number density is in the range of 5x10(14)-1.5x10(15) cm(-3) and the pump wavelength is 841.1 nm. Direct photoexcitation of the Cs 6P3/22 state at 852.1 nm under these conditions is a less efficient pathway for pumping the 894.3 nm laser, presumably as a result of competing nonlinear optical processes such as 1+2 resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization of the alkali atom.

Photoassociation of alkali-rare gas atomic collision pairs provides an alternative approach to optically pumping atomic alkali lasers. Lasing on the 6 P21/2→6 S21/2 (D1) transition of Cs has been observed when the blue satellite of the 6 P23/2←6 S21/2 (D2) transition, peaking at ∼837 nm for mixtures of Cs vapor, Ar, and ethane, is pumped by a pulsed dye laser. For 50% output coupling, laser threshold with respect to absorbed pump energy is ∼40 μJ at T=435 K and the slope efficiency approaches 10%. The measured spectral breadth for the blue satellite (≳5 nm at 410 K) will accommodate cw pumping of the Cs laser with conventional semiconductor lasers.

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.

Lasing on the D2 (6p P23/2→6s S21/2) transition of atomic Cs at 852.1 nm has been observed with a four level system in which the Cs 6p P23/2 state is pumped by the photoassociation and subsequent dissociation of Cs-rare gas collision pairs. Characterized by a quantum efficiency >98%, this laser requires no atomic precursor to the upper laser level and provides oscillation on an alkali transition inaccessible to three level, photopumped alkali laser systems. Measurements of photoabsorption and pump energy threshold in Cs–Ar–Kr mixtures reveal the influence of three body photoassociation.

A new class of photoassociation lasers has been demonstrated in which photoexcited alkali-rare gas collision pairs dissociate in order to produce inversion on atomic alkali transitions. The pump acceptance bandwidths of these excimer bands, historically referred to as spectral satellites, have been observed to be as broad as 5 nm. This characteristic makes excimer-pumped alkali-vapor lasers (XPALs) attractive candidates for the spatial mode conversion of laser diode arrays with nominal linewidths of 2 nm in order to produce high quality (M2 1) beams. Quantum e ciencies exceeding 98% have been measured and may potentially mitigate heat extraction issues associated with high power, large volume lasers. XPALs operating on both the n2P1=2 ! n2S1=2 (D1) or n2P3=2 ! n2S1=2 (D2) transitions of Cs (n = 6) and Rb (n = 5) have been experimentally investigated and show promise for scaling to high power, diode pumped systems. Both semiclassical and quantum mechanical formulations of the free!free transitions which produce satellites are presented, culminating in an improved CsAr(B2 + 1=2) potential. A timedependent rate equation model is also described which clearly shows the validity and utility of employing the laser itself as a sensitive probe of the underlying photoassociation kinetics.

Abstract : The Doppler-broadened two-photon absorption (TPA) cross-section for the 52S1/2- 52D5/2 transition in Rb is measured using direct absorption methods. A detailed model of the intensity profile was developed to account for a focused Gaussian beam propagating through a two-photon absorption medium. A peak absorbance of 24% was observed for an intensity of 6.28 kW/cm2 at the focus, a Rb density of 4.6 x 1015 cm-3 concentrations from 1.61-8.52 x 10(15) cm-3 line. Extracting the hyperfine-broadened TPA cross-section from 87 test configurations, while varying the pump power, alkali concentration and focal length, yielded an error weighted average of 6.75x10-21 cm4/W. This cross-section is sufficient for a pulsed dye laser to bleach the pump transition in the Two-Photon Pumped Alkali Laser (TPAL) that lases at 420 nm and 5.2 mum. Additionally, optically pumped atomic rubidium lasers pumped in the blue satellite of the D2 line from the ground Rb-Ar or Rb-Kr collision pair to the dissociative B2 sum 1/2 produce laser emission at 780.2 nm. Lasing is achieved for the Rb-Ar system and 757.1 - 760.4 nm for the Rb-Kr system. Slope efficiencies exceed 0.25% using a heat pipe configuration. The gain is very high with photon build-up times of 1-3.7 ns.