Photopumped VUV Laser at 60nm and Its Potential Application for Material Science Research

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9402547 Suckewer The goal of this project is to develop a VUV laser with an output lasing wavelength near 60 nm. Because its photon energy (~20eV) matches molecular bonding energies and is typical of the energy values used in photoelectron spectroscopy, there will be several very important applications for a source of this type in chemical research. Ultimately we envision the development of a practical laboratory-size instrument with output power at a wavelength of ~60 nm which exceeds any present source,including synchrotrons. Our prototypes will be used in experiments conducted in collaboration with Prof. G. Scoles and his group in the Chemistry Department for (a) high resolution photoelectron spectroscopy at high dilution and (b) mass spectroscopy and time-of-flight molecular beam experiments. This laser may also become an important device for material science research particularly in the study of photoelectron effects in semiconductors and for solid state physics in general. As has been the case with other laser developments, success may lead to many unexpected applications perhaps opening up new areas of physics and chemistry. Our proposal for the development of VUV laser in MoVII uses the photopumping scheme of Feldman and Reader. The scheme is based on their observation of a unique line coincidence for two different ions of the same element, namely the MoII line at 13.65 nm which coincides with a MoVII line. Both line are strongly coupled to the ground state. This makes them a suitable pair to be exploited for the photopumping scheme i.e. for the creation of a population inversion and gain on the 4p56s-4p55p transitions in MoVII at a wavelength near 60nm. ***