ARTICLES: Spectroscopic investigation of an optically pumped carbon tetrafluoride laser
Frequency tuning of the CF4 laser in the range 612-645 cm–1 and stabilization of its operation by pumping with pulsed CO2 laser radiation in the 9 μ range is reported. The CF4 laser frequency is tuned by tuning the pump frequency over the stimulated emission lines of the CO2 laser. The number of emitted frequencies is increased considerably by using isotopically substituted C18O2 and 13CF4 molecules. The CF4 laser stimulated emission is stabilized and finely tuned by stabilizing and finely tuning the CO2 laser frequency within the CO2 gain line width. At a pump energy of 2 J, a stimulated emission energy of 40 mJ was obtained in a pulse of 100 nsec duration. The Coriolis constant of the upper laser level was determined and the observed CF4 laser stimulated emission lines were identified.