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Physical Review A

Two-photon resonant four-wave mixing and multiphoton ionization of cesium in a heat-pipe oven

S. M. Hamadani, John A. D. Stockdale, R. N. Compton, Michael Stuart Pindzola

Published Sep 1, 1986• 37 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Optical pumping of cesium vapor in a heat-pipe oven in which the energy of two near-infrared photons is close to the 6D states results in high conversion efficiency (up to 1.7%) of the near-infrared pump light to intense blue, forward-propagating radiation. The blue light corresponds to the 7P-6S transition. The dependence of conversion efficiency upon focusing conditions, cell length, and pump intensity is presented. Absorption and gain coefficients are measured in a second heat pipe. The results are discussed in terms of optically pumped stimulated emission (OPSE), stimulated electronic Raman scattering (SERS), and subsequent nonlinear four-wave mixing of two pump-laser photons and one SERS or OPSE infrared photon, leading to parametric generation at \ensuremath{\omega}=2${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{L}$-${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{\mathrm{ir}}$. Two-photon resonant, three-photon ionization cross sections are also studied experimentally and theoretically for the case of resonant enhancement at the 6D levels of cesium. For comparison, similar results for rubidium are also presented for the 5D levels.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.34.1938

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Two-Photon Resonant Four-Wave Mixing And Multiphoton Ionization Of Cesium In A Heat Pipe Oven

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Optical pumping of cesium vapor in a heat pipe oven in which the energy of two near-infrared photons is close to the 6D states results in high conversion efficiency (up to 1.7%) of the near-infrared pump light to intense blue, forward-propagating radiation. The blue light corresponds to the 7P-6S transition. The dependence of conversion efficiency upon focusing conditions, cell length, and pump intensity is presented. Absorption and gain coefficients are measured in a second heat pipe. The results are discussed in terms of optically pumped stimulated emission (OPSE), stimulated electronic Raman scattering (SERS), and subsequent nonlinear four-wave mixing of two pump-laser photons and one SERS or OPSE infrared photon leading to parametric generation at w = 2WL -wiR.

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Stimulated emission on the ultraviolet and blue transitions in Cs has been achieved by pumping via two-photon absorption and four-wave mixing for the pump transition 62S12→82D32,52. The emission performance of the optically pumped cesium vapor laser operating in ultraviolet and blue has been extended to 650 nJ/pulse for 387 nm, 1 to 3 μJ/pulse for 388 nm, 200 nJ/pulse for 455 nm, and 500 nJ/pulse for 459 nm. Emission performance improves dramatically as the cesium vapor density is increased, and no scaling limitations associated with energy pooling or ionization kinetics have been observed.

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Optical pumping of cesium vapor in a heat-pipe oven in which the energy of two near-infrared photons is close to the 6D states results in high conversion efficiency (up to 1.7%) of the near-infrared pump light to intense blue, forward-propagating radiation. The blue light corresponds to the 7P-6S transition. The dependence of conversion efficiency upon focusing conditions, cell length, and pump intensity is presented. Absorption and gain coefficients are measured in a second heat pipe. The results are discussed in terms of optically pumped stimulated emission (OPSE), stimulated electronic Raman scattering (SERS), and subsequent nonlinear four-wave mixing of two pump-laser photons and one SERS or OPSE infrared photon, leading to parametric generation at \ensuremath{\omega}=2\ensuremathωL{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{L}\ensuremathωL​-\ensuremathωir{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{\mathrm{ir}}\ensuremathωir​. Two-photon resonant, three-photon ionization cross sections are also studied experimentally and theoretically for the case of resonant enhancement at the 6D levels of cesium. For comparison, similar results for rubidium are also presented for the 5D levels.
Optical pumping of cesium vapor in a heat pipe oven in which the energy of two near-infrared photons is close to the 6D states results in high conversion efficiency (up to 1.7%) of the near-infrared pump light to intense blue, forward-propagating radiation. The blue light corresponds to the 7P-6S transition. The dependence of conversion efficiency upon focusing conditions, cell length, and pump intensity is presented. Absorption and gain coefficients are measured in a second heat pipe. The results are discussed in terms of optically pumped stimulated emission (OPSE), stimulated electronic Raman scattering (SERS), and subsequent nonlinear four-wave mixing of two pump-laser photons and one SERS or OPSE infrared photon leading to parametric generation at w = 2WL -wiR.
A pulsed dye-laser beam (ωL) pumped by a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser is focused into a heat-pipe oven containing potassium vapor (nk ≈ 1016 cm−3). Two-photon resonant four-wave and six-wave mixing processes using the potassium 8s 2S1/2 state are investigated. Thirty-two coherent UV radiation lines are generated within the range of 300–400 nm through the processes ωUV = 2ωL ± ωIR and ωUV = 2ωL − ω′IR − ω″IR ± ω‴IR, where ωIR are frequencies of laser-induced IR waves generated in the vapor near the transitions 8S–7P, 7P–7S, 7P–5D, 8S–6P, 7S–6P, 5D–6P, etc. The influence of resonant enhancement on the UV line intensities and the phase-matching condition are analyzed.
We report several non-linear process that occur when two-photon pumping the cesium 6D states. Cesium vapor possess some of the largest two-photon pump cross sections in nature. Pumping these cross sections leads to strong amplified spontaneous emission that we observe on over 17 lasing lines. These new fields are strong enough to couple with the pump to create additional tunable lines. We use a heat pipe with cesium densities of 1014 to 1016 cm-3 and 0 to 5 Torr of helium buffer gas. The cesium 6D States are interrogated by both high energy pulses and low power CW sources. We observe four-wave mixing, six-wave mixing, potential two-photon lasing, other unknown nonlinear processes, and the persistence of some processes at low thresholds. This system is also uniquely qualified to support two-photon lasing under the proper conditions.
Stimulated emission on the ultraviolet and blue transitions in Cs has been achieved by pumping via two-photon absorption and four-wave mixing for the pump transition 62S12→82D32,52. The emission performance of the optically pumped cesium vapor laser operating in ultraviolet and blue has been extended to 650 nJ/pulse for 387 nm, 1 to 3 μJ/pulse for 388 nm, 200 nJ/pulse for 455 nm, and 500 nJ/pulse for 459 nm. Emission performance improves dramatically as the cesium vapor density is increased, and no scaling limitations associated with energy pooling or ionization kinetics have been observed.