M. O. Scully, R. F. Shea, and K. Kompa, "Efficient energy extraction from highly forbidden transitions by means of high-power pulses," J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 3, 996-1005 (1986)
It is shown that a pulsed laser can efficiently extract energy from an inverted molecular medium even when the transitions involved are highly forbidden. This is accomplished by injecting pulses that are strong enough to drive the molecules from the excited to the weakly coupled ground state. It is well known that this Rabi flopping can be accomplished with a π pulse. We show that essentially the same energy requirements are associated with optically bleaching the inverted medium in the rate-equation limit.
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The range of J values in the upper state contains approximately 50% of the Boltzmann distribution. The corresponding frequency spread for the transitions with ΔK = 0 are taken from published data (NF and O2) or calculated from known spectroscopic constants (S2).
Table 3
Variation in Dipole Matrix Elements with J—Only Transitions with ΔK = 0 Are Considered
Results analogous to those in Tables 2 and 3 are summarized for the b → X transition. Note that the QQ-branch for O2 does not exist. (See caption to Fig. 2.)
Branches with ΔK = −1.
Table 6
Pulse Energy Requirements for the a 1Δ → X3Σ Transition
Fluences for the picosecond and nanosecond pulses are calculated from Eq. (2.41a). The microsecond pulses fall in the rate-equation limit for a gas at 1 Torr; expression (2.32a) was used in this case. The choice of various pulse widths is discussed in Section 4.
Estimates on mirror damage extrapolated from Ref. 31.
Table 7
Pulse Energy Requirements for the b1Σ → X3Σ Transition—See Discussion Accompanying Table 6
The range of J values in the upper state contains approximately 50% of the Boltzmann distribution. The corresponding frequency spread for the transitions with ΔK = 0 are taken from published data (NF and O2) or calculated from known spectroscopic constants (S2).
Table 3
Variation in Dipole Matrix Elements with J—Only Transitions with ΔK = 0 Are Considered
Results analogous to those in Tables 2 and 3 are summarized for the b → X transition. Note that the QQ-branch for O2 does not exist. (See caption to Fig. 2.)
Branches with ΔK = −1.
Table 6
Pulse Energy Requirements for the a 1Δ → X3Σ Transition
Fluences for the picosecond and nanosecond pulses are calculated from Eq. (2.41a). The microsecond pulses fall in the rate-equation limit for a gas at 1 Torr; expression (2.32a) was used in this case. The choice of various pulse widths is discussed in Section 4.
Estimates on mirror damage extrapolated from Ref. 31.
Table 7
Pulse Energy Requirements for the b1Σ → X3Σ Transition—See Discussion Accompanying Table 6