Laser and Microwave Generations in Nitrogen

This paper describes the results obtained in the three sets of experiments. The laser emission and microwaves have been obtained almost with the same experimental setup. The ultraviolet radiation coming from the current carrying the spark channel pumps the N
²
molecules to the upper-excited C
³
πu level to yield the nitrogen laser pulses at 337.1 nm of long (>220 ns) duration in the experimental setup used. The electromagnetic waves observed at the single microwave frequency close to 1 GHz and at 337.1 nm (=prominent nitrogen laser line) are the coherent radiations due to the maser action and the laser action, respectively. An attempt is made to relate one of these concepts to the lightning phenomena.