Active media

Kinetics of the active medium of a nuclear-pumped laser based on transitions in the cadmium atom

A. V. Karelin, R. V. Shirokov

Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow

Abstract: A kinetic model of the active medium is developed for a nuclear-pumped laser (with an He – Cd – CCl₄ mixture) based on transitions in the cadmium ion and atom. The results of numerical modelling give the distribution of the relaxation flux between excited states of the cadmium atom. A study is reported of the mechanisms responsible for the influence of the addition of carbon tetrachloride on the evolution of relaxation processes in an He — Cd plasma and on stimulated emission of the λ = 325.0 nm line. It is shown that the main factor hindering lasing as a result of the 4d⁹5s^2 2D_3/2 → 4d¹⁰5p²P_1/2 transition is the parasitic absorption of the stimulated radiation by metastable cadmium atoms.

PACS: 42.55.Lt, 42.60.Lh

Received: 05.02.1998

 English version: Quantum Electronics, 1998, 28:10, 893–897

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