Population inversion of molecular nitrogen in an Ar: N2 mixture by selective resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization

Resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) is shown to offer an attractive strategy for population inversion of molecular nitrogen in an Ar: N-2 gas mixture. We present a detailed analysis of the key processes leading to a population inversion of molecular nitrogen in a REMPI-pumped Ar: N-2 gas mixture, including a (3 + 1) REMPI of argon atoms, conversion of the REMPI-generated atomic argon ions into molecular ions, and generation of long-lived metastable excited-state argon atoms through dissociative recombination, populating the C-3 pi(u) states of molecular nitrogen. Population inversion achieved for the second-positive-band laser transitions of molecular nitrogen enables stimulated emission of ultraviolet radiation at 337 nm. A high selectivity of the REMPI process helps to radically reduce the depletion of the working medium through the ionization of N-2, providing a pump mechanism that is ideally suited for the creation of a new type of a highly efficient nitrogen laser. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3646478]