High-intensity coherent vacuum ultraviolet source using unfocussed commercial dye lasers

Area of Science:

• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Laser Spectroscopy
• Nonlinear Optics

Background:

• Generation of vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light is crucial for various spectroscopic applications.
• Resonance enhanced four-wave mixing (REFWM) is a nonlinear optical technique for VUV generation.
• Previous methods often involved complex setups or lower pulse energies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate the generation of high-energy VUV pulses using a practical laser system.
• To characterize the VUV light generated via REFWM in mercury vapor.
• To showcase the utility of the VUV source in scientific experiments.

Main Methods:

• Utilized two or three commercial pulsed nanosecond dye lasers pumped by a single Nd:YAG laser.
• Employed resonance enhanced four-wave mixing in mercury vapor.
• Achieved phase matching by tuning a laser near the 253.1 nm mercury resonance.

Main Results:

• Successfully generated 0.10 mJ pulses at 125 nm (6 × 10^13 photons/pulse).
• Observed good agreement between experimental results and theoretical predictions for VUV tuning curves and intensities.
• Demonstrated VUV light utility in single-photon ionization and oxygen atom Rydberg time-of-flight experiments.

Conclusions:

• The developed method provides a robust way to generate high-energy VUV pulses.
• The VUV light source is suitable for sensitive spectroscopic investigations.
• Further increases in pulse energy are feasible with this approach.