Significant Enhancement of N2+ Lasing by Polarization-Modulated Ultrashort Laser Pulses

We show that the intensity of self-seeded N-2(+) lasing at 391 nm, assigned to the B-2 Sigma(+)(u)(v' = 0) -> X-2 Sigma(+)(g) (v '' = 0) emission, is enhanced by 2 orders of magnitude by modulating in time the polarization of an intense ultrashort near-IR (40 fs, 800 nm) laser pulse with which N2 is irradiated. We find that this dramatic enhancement of the 391 nm lasing is sensitive to the temporal variation of the polarization state within the laser pulse while the intensity of the spontaneous fluorescence emission at 391 nm is kept constant when the polarization state varies. We conclude that a postionization multiple-state coupling, through which the population can be transferred from the X-2 Sigma(+)(g) state of N-2(+) to the first electronically excited A(2)Pi(u) state, leads to the depletion of the population in the X-2 Sigma(+)(g) state, and consequently, to the population inversion between the X-2 Sigma(+)(g) state and the B-2 Sigma(+)(u) state.