摘要 |
A thermally pumped laser. The laser features an emitter, a collector spaced apart from the emitter, and reflecting elements adjacent to the space between the emitter and collector to form a cavity. A heat source is provided for heating the emitter to drive electrons from the emitter to the collector. Vapor such as cesium vapor is disposed in the cavity between the emitter and the collector to form the lasing medium. An additive selected to be in resonance with specific excited states of the atoms may be intermixed with the chosen vapor. The additive assists in depopulating the specific states of the atoms, thereby creating or enhancing a population inversion in the atoms of the vapor so that lasing may occur. The laser may be operated both in a pulsed and in a d.c. mode.
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