Cascade lasing of molecular HBr in the four micron region pumped by a Nd:YAG laser

Due to a narrow window of high atmospheric transmission near 4 /spl mu/m there is a great deal of interest for a scalable laser energy source in this spectral region. We propose a concept combining the advantages of solid-state and gas laser technology. It takes advantage of a coincidence of a Nd:YAG laser line and an overtone transition of the molecule HBr. Tuning a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser to 1.3391 /spl mu/m allows us to excite the v(0 /spl rarr/ 3), J(4 /spl rarr/ 5) vibrational-rotational transition of HBr. To stabilize the pump frequency, a diode laser locked to this HBr transition seeds the Nd:YAG laser. Once excited, HBr can potentially lase in three subsequent steps to the ground state, two of which were observed experimentally, emitting up to three photons in the 4-/spl mu/m region. We present theoretical and experimental results demonstrating the operational principle of this laser system. The comparison of experiment and theory suggests: 1) that intracavity CO/sub 2/ can force the system to lase on only those transitions that are within the atmospheric transmission window, and 2) the existence of amplified spontaneous emission driven by pure rotational transitions.