Investigation of a 460 nm XeF laser

The rare gas halide lasers have been extensively developed into efficient, high energy lasers operating in the near ultraviolet region of the spectrum. Until recently, most of the development in XeF had concentrated on the B>X transition at 350 micrometers. There is an even longer wavelength transition in XeF, the C-A continuum band at 460 micrometers. This transition has had several advantages over the shorter wavelength transitions in existing XeF and KrF lasers, including tunability and optimum atmospheric and aquatic transmission. The purpose of this program was to demonstrate lasing on the C-A transition of XeF and to gather the kinetic data necessary to optimize the laser performance.