Paper
12 July 1988 Operation Of A Broadband UV-Visible Diatomic Sulfur Laser
Sheldon B Hutchison
Author Affiliations +
Proceedings Volume 0894, Gas Laser Technology; (1988) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.944385
Event: 1988 Los Angeles Symposium: O-E/LASE '88, 1988, Los Angeles, CA, United States
Abstract
Laser sources based on the diatomic sulfur (S2) molecule have demonstrated features which make this molecule an attractive tunable laser alternative. The very high gain on the S2 B--X transitions allows superfluorescent laser emission over a broad spectral range, from the UV to the orange. The lasing medium may be contained in a sealed-off optical cell practically indefinitely, thus eliminating the need to regularly replace gases, dyes, or solvents. The S2 molecular vapor is easily and fairly efficiently pumped by standard xenon chloride (XeClJ UV excimer lasers. Pumping by other UV laser sources (N2, He-Cd) produces Raman spectra which provide additional output wavelengths in the UV and visible. The work summarized here deals with the operation of a superfluorescent S2 laser wavelength converter. This device has achieved up to 211 simultaneous laser lines in groups from 328 to 583 nm in a thermal dissociation configuration with 308 nm excitation from a xenon chloride (XeC1) laser. Due to the superfluorescent operation of this device, the overall conversion efficiency is low, although it has been observed to be as high as approximately 10%. In order to understand the operation of this wavelength converter, a range of experiments was performed which involved sulfur molecular dissociation kinetics and optical absorption measurements, as well as spectroscopic emission/ absorption band origin identification. These data also lead to measurements and estimates of laser operational parameters.
© (1988) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Sheldon B Hutchison "Operation Of A Broadband UV-Visible Diatomic Sulfur Laser", Proc. SPIE 0894, Gas Laser Technology, (12 July 1988); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.944385
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KEYWORDS
Sulfur

Molecules

Molecular lasers

Ultraviolet radiation

Absorption

Absorbance

Data conversion

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