Modeling of a dual-wavelength pumped metastable argon laser

Optically pumped metastable argon laser is an attractive research topic of innovative gas lasers, but the slow collisional relaxation rates of 1 s 4 –1 s 5 (in Paschen notation) may form a bottleneck on the cycling of active atoms and decrease the laser output at room temperature. Here, by employing a method of a dual-wavelength pump, we demonstrate the removal of accumulation on the 1 s 4 level and the improvement of output power in the simulation. The simulated results show that a large increase in laser output is possible with a relatively weak assistant pump intensity. This method offers a feasible way to scale the laser to higher gain.