Role of excited state photoionization in the 852.1 nm Cs laser pumped by Cs-Ar photoassociation
- Laboratory for Optical Physics and Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801 (United States)
- Department of Engineering Physics, U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 45433 (United States)
- CU Aerospace, Champaign, Illinois 61802 (United States)
Photoionization of Cs (6p {sup 2}P{sub 3/2}) atoms during the operation of a Cs D{sub 2} line (852.1 nm: 6p {sup 2}P{sub 3/2}{yields}6s {sup 2}S{sub 1/2}) laser, pumped by free{yields}free transitions of thermal Cs-Ar ground state pairs, has been investigated experimentally and computationally. Photoexcitation of Cs vapor/Ar mixtures through the blue satellite of the D{sub 2} transition (peaking at 836.7 nm) selectively populates the {sup 2}P{sub 3/2} upper laser level by the dissociation of the CsAr excited complex. Comparison of laser output energy data, for instantaneous pump powers up to 3 MW, with the predictions of a numerical model sets an upper bound of 8 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -26} cm{sup 4} W{sup -1} on the Cs (6p {sup 2}P{sub 3/2}) two photon ionization cross-section at 836.7 nm which corresponds to a single photon cross-section of 2.4 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -19} cm{sup 2} for a peak pump intensity of 3 MW cm{sup -2}.
- OSTI ID:
- 22162788
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 102, Issue 11; Other Information: (c) 2013 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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