CO2 laser absorption and saturation studies of molecular impurities in alkali halides

Optical properties of pure and doped alkali halide crystal between 9 micron and 11 micron were using CO2 lasers and Michelson interferometers. The extrinsic absorption due to residual impurities in purified alkali halides was used to categorize the optical quality of the crystals. The absorption in doped crystals was studied both interferometrically from which the internal vibrational modes of the molecular impurities were identified and by means of saturation spectroscopy from which excited-state lifetimes of molecular vibrations were determined.