THERMAL-GRATING CONTRIBUTIONS TO DEGENERATE 4-WAVE-MIXING IN NITRIC-OXIDE

We report investigations of degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) line intensities in the A(2) Sigma(+) <-- X(2)II electronic transitions of nitric oxide. Contributions from population gratings (spatially varying perturbations in the level populations of absorbing species) and thermal gratings (spatially varying perturbations in the overall density) were distinguished and compared by several experimental and analytical techniques. For small quantities of nitric oxide in a strongly quenching buffer gas (carbon dioxide), we found that thermal-grating contributions dominated at room temperature for gas pressures of approximate to 0.5 atm and higher. In a nearly nonquenching buffer (nitrogen) the population-grating mechanism dominated at pressures of approximate to 1.0 atm and lower. At higher temperatures in an atmospheric-pressure methane/air flame, population gratings of nitric oxide also dominated. We propose a simple model for the ratio of thermal- to population-grating scattering intensities that varies as (PT-4.4)-T-4. Preliminary investigations of the temperature dependence and detailed studies of the pressure dependence are in agreement with this model. Measurements of the temporal evolution and the peak intensity of isolated thermal-grating signals are in detailed agreement with calculations based on a linearized hydrodynamic model [J. Opt. Sec. Am. B 12, 384 (1995)].