Mid-Infrared Multispectral Gaseous Stimulated Raman Scattering Laser

Abstract

We demonstrated mid-infrared gaseous stimulated Raman scattering lasers in free space. Mixed gases of hydrogen and deuterium were used as Raman gain media in one Raman cell. Pumped by laser pulses at 1064 nm, the first Stokes Raman components at 1560 nm and 1907 nm were generated. A four-wave mixing process with the pump laser at 1064 nm and Raman lasers at 1560 nm and 1907 nm contributed to dramatically reducing the threshold of mid-IR laser generation at 4432 nm. The maximum output peak power of a mid-IR laser at 4432 nm reached 121 kW. Furthermore, by scattering on the rotational transition of deuterium, multispectral mid-IR Raman lasers at wavelengths of 2071 nm, 2266 nm, 2604 nm, 2920 nm, 3322 nm, 3743 nm, 4432 nm, and 5431 nm were also generated. Our results show that this is a convenient method to reduce the threshold and achieve a high power output with mid-IR Raman lasers.