High-efficiency joule-level Raman generation in Pb vapor

Raman shifting in an injection-locked XeCl laser in Pb vapor has yielded almost 1 J of blue-green radiation in 60-nanosec pulses, and the measured 50% Raman energy conversion has been observed in both oscillator and oscillator-amplifier experiments. It is established that Raman downconversion in Pb vapor is well understood and has no significant loss mechanisms, such as dimer distortion, in the 1 x 10 to the 17th/cu cm density region. These results indicate that XeCl/Pb blue-green laser efficiency in excess of 1.4% may be possible.