Generation of subnanosecond far-infrared laser pulses in a large spectral range with a Raman D 2O laser optically pumped by a continuously tunable CO 2 laser

Abstract

We report on the generation of subnanosecond far-infrared laser pulses in large spectral range by optical pumping of D 2O. Using a continuously tunable high-pressure CO 2 laser as pump source, we obtain laser action at 58 lines, 47 of them new, in the frequency region from 26 to 236 cm -1. For D 2O gas pressures above 2 mbar, far-infrared generation was found to occur by stimulated Raman scattering; the achieved maximum bandwidth of the Raman gain regions ranges from a few GHz up to 17 GHz. We made use of these broad amplification profiles for the generation of far-infrared pulses with durations in the subnanosecond time regime.