Injection locking of a xenon fluoride laser

Abstract

Operation of a XeF laser at high spectral power densities on transitions within a single vibrational band has been demonstrated. An electron‐beam‐controlled discharge XeF laser was operated as an injection‐locked regenerative amplifier. A narrow‐band signal from an étalon‐tuned XeF laser was used to lock the regenerative amplifier. Competition between the various components of the emission spectrum was observed. Homogeneous extraction is observed within each vibrational band, indicating that the rotational cross‐relaxation time is substantially faster than the radiative lifetime of XeF. Coupling between vibrational bands was not observed. These measurements indicate that the efficient extraction from XeF on a single rotational transition should be possible. The band at 351 nm was found to consist of components arising from at least two different vibrational bands. The transitions in the 353‐nm band and one component of the 351‐nm band share a common vibrational level in the upper electronic state. These observations are consistent with current vibrational assignments of the XeF spectrum.