Analytical model of a diode-pumped cesium laser for investigation of upper-state mixing and quenching reactions

Abstract

A one-dimensional analytical model of a diode-pumped cesium vapor laser was constructed, and equations were derived to explain the dependence of the laser power on the hydrocarbon gas partial pressure. By varying the hydrocarbon gas partial pressure over a wide range and measuring the laser power, the corresponding mixing and quenching rate constants were validated. A gas-flow Cs diode-pumped alkali laser (DPAL) was operated with methane, ethane, and propane as buffer gases, with the partial pressures varied from 0 to 2 atmospheres. The experimental results were found to be in good agreement with the analytical solutions, confirming the validity of our proposed method. Separate 3-D numerical simulations were performed, and the output power effectively reproduced the experimental results over the entire buffer gas pressure range.