Far infrared frequency synthesis with stabilized CO2lasers: Accurate measurements of the water vapor and methyl alcohol laser frequencies

A far infrared (FIR) frequency synthesis technique using saturated-absorption stabilized CO
2
lasers and a point-contact diode has been used to measure frequencies of a number of strong CW H
2
O, D
2
O, and CH
3
OH laser lines. The first frequency measurements of the 79-μm H
2
O, the 73- and 108-μm D
2
O, and 11 CO
2
-pumped CW
¹²
CH
2
¹⁶
OH laser lines are reported. This measurement is the first demonstration of the general usefulness of CO
2
lasers for accurate synthesis of FIR frequencies.