Abstract

We have used three-laser coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering to acquire simultaneously the pure rotational and vibrational spectra from the nitrogen molecule. The energy level schematic for the three-laser CARS process is shown in Figure 1. Frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser radiation at frequency ω₁ is used to pump a broadband dye laser which lases at a range of frequencies ω_s and a narrowband dye laser with frequency ω₂. The three-beams are focused to a common CARS probe volume using a three-dimensional phase-matching geometry.

© 1987 Optical Society of America