Prospects for a Tunable, High Power CH3F Laser

Laser pumping of CH3F with high intensity radiation [1] from a grating tuned CO2 TEA has produced Raman far-infrared (FIR) emission with pump offsets as large as 20 GHz. Analysis of these results suggests that a nearly continuously tunable FIR laser could be constructed if a tunable pump source were utilized. This system would be similar in principle to the tunable FIR sources using the diatomic molecules HF [2] and HCL [3]. A tunable CH3F laser, however, would have the advantages of a higher overall efficiency and narrower bandwidth. We present a theoretical analysis which predicts the tuning behavior of such a tunable CH3F laser. Data previously taken [1] with a grating tuned CO2 TEA laser are used to determine the necessary pump intensity and the operating pressure.