Operation of the atomic xenon laser near 4μm

Abstract

The atomic xenon laser is an attractive candidate for remote sensing and other applications requiring low atmospheric absorption, due to the presence of a transmission window in the 3.5 - 4.2μm region. The xenon laser, configured with a non-dispersive resonator, produces a number of laser lines between 2.0-3.51μm when excited with a transverse radiofrequency discharge, with laser powers at the level ~5Watts. Experiments have shown that the gain in the atomic xenon laser is strongly dependent on the gas mixture, gas composition and pressure as well as the input RF power. Moreover, there are very strong competition effects, caused by the fact that many laser lines share either an upper or a lower level. These factors suggest the possibility of selecting a gas mixture which preferentially yields a higher laser gain for particular line at the expense of reduced gain for competitive lines.