Parametric Studies on a Short Pulsed KrF Pumped Atomic Iodine Laser

摘要

This paper describes parametric studies performed on a short pulsed KrF excimerpumped atomic Iodine laser. Three different approaches were used to determine the gain in the laser cell. The first technique uses a tunable diode laser to directly measure the transient gain. The second method involves measuring the energy extracted from the laser for various outcoupling mirrors and applying the threshold gain condition to determine the small signal gain of the dominant laser transition. The final measurement is of the amount of UV energy deposited in the CF3I extraction volume. A maximum theoretical value for the gain can be calculated from this energy and previously measured parameters of CF3I. Both experimental gain measurements compare favorably to the theoretically calculated value. A theoretical rate equation model involving all of the relevant kinetic processes of the hyperfine structure associated with the laser was developed and tested. Experimental laser intensity and cavity buildup time were compared to the theoretical model in both a qualitative and quantitative sense. With minor adjustment to the model, agreement was reached between theory and experiment. jg.