Gain and continuous-wave laser power enhancement with a secondary discharge to predissociate molecular iodine in an electric oxygen-iodine laser

摘要

Herein the authors report on the demonstration of a 50% enhancement in gain and 38% enhancement in continuous-wave laser power on the 1315 nm transition of atomic iodine through the addition of a secondary discharge to predissociate the molecular iodine in an electric oxygen-iodine laser. In the primary discharge the O_2(a ~1△) is produced by a radio-frequency-excited electric discharge sustained in an O_2-He-NO gas mixture, and I(~2P_(1/2)) is then pumped using energy transferred from O_2(a~1△). A gain of 0.10% cm~(-1) was obtained and the total laser output power was 6.2 W.