Vacuum-Ultraviolet Laser Action Observed in the Lyman Bands of Molecular Hydrogen

Abstract

Stimulated emission has been observed in the $P$ -branch lines of the 3-10, 4-11, 5-12, 6-13, and 7-13 Lyman bands ($v^{\prime }-v^{\prime \prime }$, $B{}_{}{}^1{}_{}{}^{}{\Sigma }_{\mathrm{u}}_{}^{+}{}_{}{}^{}\to X{}_{}{}^1{}_{}{}^{}{\Sigma }_g_{}^{+}{}_{}{}^{}$) of molecular hydrogen near 1600 Å. Light pulses of approximately 2 nsec duration and 1.5 kW maximum power were produced using a Blumlein parallel-plate transmission line discharging through hydrogen gas at pressures between 20 and 150 Torr.