Studies of the nitrogen laser and nitrogen pumped dye lasers

The first polarized coherent 337.1 nm radiation with 2 mJ energy per pulse and 1.75 x .5 mrad divergence from the transversely excited atmospheric (TEA) nitrogen laser is presented. The design consists of an oscillator amplifier arrangement with the oscillator coupled to the amplifier by reflection from a quartz plate inclined at Brewster's angle. Using this device as a pumping source, a tunable distributed feedback prism dye laser is demonstrated. Experimental results of the polarization of the superradiance from the dye pumped by the polarized TEA nitrogen laser are also reported.