Gain and continuous-wave laser power enhancement with a secondary discharge to predissociate molecular iodine in an electric oxygen-iodine laser

Herein the authors report on the demonstration of a 50% enhancement in gain and 38% enhancement in continuous-wave laser power on the 1315nm transition of atomic iodine through the addition of a secondary discharge to predissociate the molecular iodine in an electric oxygen-iodine laser. In the primary discharge the O2(aΔ1) is produced by a radio-frequency-excited electric discharge sustained in an O2–He–NO gas mixture, and I(P1∕22) is then pumped using energy transferred from O2(aΔ1). A gain of 0.10%cm−1 was obtained and the total laser output power was 6.2W.