Optically Pumped Submillimeter-Wave Sources

Optical pumping of polar molecules by means of infrared lasers is expected to lead to thousands of laser lines throughout the submillimeter-wave region. Already, 282 new laser lines between 34 mu m and 1.814 mm in 18 different molecules have been reported. Very stable CW operation, very high pulsed output, linear polarization, high gain, and many other advantages over discharge excitation are offered.