The alkali atom concentration plays an important role in the
performance of a diode pumped alkali vapor laser (DPAL). At the
rubidium DPAL operational region, the alkali concentration is as high
as
1
0
13
−
1
0
14
c
m
−
3
, which is “optically thick,” or
opaque, for the 780 nm or 795 nm doublet D lines when the traditional
scanning absorption spectrum method is used for concentration
measurement. To solve this problem, we propose the use of a probe
laser of 420 nm, which corresponds to the
5
2
S
1
/
2
to
6
2
P
3
/
2
transition and has a lower absorption
cross section compared to the D-line doublet. Due to the moderate
absorption strength at a fixed 420 nm probe wavelength, we realized
fast, online measurement of the Rb concentration in a real-world DPAL.
By combining it with the quasi-two-level model, we further provided
the population distribution in the lower three energy levels. This
fast, online diagnostic method could be well applied in DPAL
concentration measurement, and could show the dynamics of a laser’s
performance.