摘要 |
In the basic Diode-Pumped Alkali Laser (DPAL) device, excitation to the n <2>P3/2 electronic level by a single diode laser pump source leads to a population inversion between the first excited electronic <2>P1/2 level and the ground <2>S1/2 level, permitting the construction of efficient, high-power, compact DPAL laser oscillators in the near infrared spectral region. The present invention extends the single-step excitation DPAL to a two-step excitation, or up-conversion DPAL to produce efficient, powerful laser operation in the visible blue and near UV spectral regions (viz., in the range 460-323 nm). The present invention describes an apparatus and method that efficiently sums the energy of two, near-infrared diode pump photons in alkali vapor atoms, followed by stimulated emission to their electronic ground levels.
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