Abstract:
An rf (27.5 MHz) discharge was used for the first time to pump a cw DCN laser, which made it possible to reduce its noise below the 10–4 (0.01%) level. The parameters of the active medium and of the laser cavity were optimised. It was found that cw operation was possible at five wavelengths near 200 μm. A record output power from a laser with a cavity 2.5 m long, reached at the 189.95 μm wavelength, was 430 mW. In this laser the consumption of the expensive deuterated ethylene C2D4 was 20 times less than the consumption of the deuterated methane CD4 in the most powerful dc-pumped DCN laser.