Stimulated emission at 10 μm of O3 trapped in low temperature matrices: Threshold measurements and quantum yield evaluation

Abstract

The recently reported fluorescence, emitted near 10 μm by laser excited ozone molecules trapped in xenon matrices, is actually a stimulated emission. It is observed, at the 2ν3→ν3 frequency, only if the laser pulse, which excites the ν1+ν3 level, contains a sufficient amount of energy. A similar emission is found in the other rare gas matrices and in nitrogen, above a laser energy threshold which is matrix dependent. Above the threshold, the emitted signal grows linearly with the laser pulse energy. An evaluation of the quantum yield is obtained by comparison with the literature data on CO fluorescence. The characteristics of the observed emission (low directionality, laser energy dependence, shortening, and amplification when compared to spontaneous emission) are discussed.