NOVEL NEUTRAL ATOMIC FLUORINE LASER LINES IN A HIGH-PRESSURE MIXTURE OF F2 AND HE

Many intense neutral atomic fluorine laser lines in the visible (λ=7037.5-7552.2 Å) have been obtained from a gas mixture of F 2 and He at total pressures up to 3 atm, driven by a fast Blumlein discharge. At high pressures, three new laser lines have been found and were assigned to the quartet manifold: 7425.7 Å (3p4P 01/2→3s4P3/2), 7482.7 Å (3p4P03/2→3s4P3/2), and 7515.0 Å (3p4P01/2→3s 4P1/2). The number of lines observed and their relative intensities were found to depend strongly on the pressue of the F2/He gas mixture.