Tunable Spin-Flip Laser and Infrared Spectroscopy

Abstract

We investigate the use of a tunable spin-flip Raman laser in infrared absorption spectroscopy. The Raman laser is tunable from 10.9 to 13.0 \ensuremath{\mu}m with linearity and resettability of tuning better than \ensuremath{\sim}4 \AA{}A at \ensuremath{\sim}12.0 \ensuremath{\mu}m. This limit is set by the present measurement capability. A study of the absorption spectrum of N${\mathrm{H}}_{3}$ in the 12.0-\ensuremath{\mu}m region shows that the spin-flip Raman laser is superior to a conventional grating spectrometer in attainable resolution.