Methanol and the optically pumped far-infrared laser

Abstract

New results on the generation and spectroscopic analysis of optically pumped far-infrared (FIR) laser emission from CH/sub 3/OH have been obtained as part of a systematic study of methanol isotopomers as FIR laser sources utilizing the extended line coverage available from a recently developed high-resolution CO/sub 2/ laser of high efficiency. For normal CH/sub 3/OH, six new short-wavelength lines have been found using a 2 m long Fabry-Perot FIR laser cavity. Accurate heterodyne frequency measurements are reported for 14 CH/sub 3/OH FIR laser lines, nearly all above 100 cm/sup -1/, as well as accurate frequency offsets for most of the corresponding CO/sub 2/ pump lines. Spectroscopic assignments are presented for nine high-frequency FIR laser lines in four pump systems.