Abstract
A two color process for optical pumping of the Rb D2 line laser (λ=780nm) in Rb vapor-rare gas mixtures is demonstrated to yield an overall quantum efficiency>1. Combining photoexcitation of the Rb D2 line blue satellite in Rb-Xe or Rb-Ar mixtures with free ← free optical pumping of the A2Π12←X2Σ12+ transition at large internuclear separation (R>5Å) also increases the laser efficiency and pump absorption coefficient, relative to the single color, B ← X pumped system, by a factor of 1.7 and more than an order of magnitude, respectively. Simultaneous photopumping of Rb-Xe thermal collision pairs at 760nm (D2 satellite) and 794.3nm results in a 780nm (D2 line) laser with a quantum efficiency of 1.008 which corresponds to the removal of ∼102cm-1 (12.6meV) of thermal energy per emitted photon.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 041112 |
Journal | Applied Physics Letters |
Volume | 107 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 27 2015 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)