High-resolution and high-sensitivity laser spectroscopy of atoms and molecules in the near- and mid-IR spectral regions

摘要

We report several spectroscopic investigations of atomic and molecular species based on semiconductor diode lasers. We first discuss the isotope shifts and hyperfine structures of several near-infrared transitions of Ar and Xe. Peculiar isotope displacements observed for these atoms were ascribed to their closed nuclear shells configuration (magic nuclei). Diode lasers were also used to generate narrow-bandwidth tunable radiation around 3 mum by means of difference-frequency generation in periodically-poled lithium niobate crystals. Mid-IR radiation was used either to investigate collisional broadening of water vapor lines in the nu(1) band and to perform an high sensitivity detection of the N2O molecule. [References: 35]