Waveguide laser for the far infrared (FIR) pumped by a CO2 laser

Using a hollow waveguide resonator, laser operation in the far infrared (FIR) has been observed on several transitions between 40 and 200 μm from methyl alcohol excited by the resonant absorption of CO2 pump laser lines. The preliminary performance characteristics of FIR waveguide lasers constructed from both metallic and dielectric tubes are discussed. For CO2 pump powers of a few watts, cw output power at the milliwatt level in the FIR was observed from waveguide laser structures only a small fraction of the size of conventional FIR laser resonators.