Continuous-wave laser oscillation on the 1315 nm transition of atomic iodine pumped by O2(a1Δ) produced in an electric discharge -: art. no. 111104

Laser action at 1315 nm on the I(P-2(1/2))-> I(P-2(3/2)) transition of atomic iodine is conventionally obtained by a near-resonant energy transfer from O-2(a(1)Delta) which is produced using wet-solution chemistry. The difficulties in chemically producing O-2(a(1)Delta) has motivated investigations into purely gas phase methods to produce O-2(a(1)Delta) using low-pressure electric discharges. In this letter, we report on the demonstration of a continuous-wave laser on the 1315 nm transition of atomic iodine where the O-2(a(1)Delta) used to pump the iodine was produced by a radio-frequency-excited electric discharge. The electric discharge was sustained in a He/O-2 gas mixture upstream of a supersonic cavity which is employed to lower the temperature of the continuous gas flow and shift the equilibrium of atomic iodine in favor of the I(P-2(1/2)) state. The laser output power was 220 mW in a stable cavity composed of two 99.99% reflective mirrors. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.