Abstract

We investigated the frequency, bandwidth, and tuning of a laser-pumped far-infrared (FIR) ¹³CH₃F Raman laser having a kilowatt level output for 100-ns duration pulses. The ¹³CH₃F laser was a mirrorless, waveguide, amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) laser. Measurements of frequency and linewidth were made on a single-shot basis using heterodyne mixing techniques. The linewidth of the ASE radiation was found to be surprisingly narrow, ~15-MHz FWHM, much narrower than the homogeneous linewidth (of the order of 200 MHz), and narrower than previously reported measurements made with scanning Fabry-Perot interferometers, which average over many shots. Frequency tuning of the FIR laser, as the pump laser is tuned, was found to depart significantly from expected linear tuning.

© 1987 Optical Society of America