Laser oscillation and anisotropic gain in the 1 → 0 vibrational band of optically pumped HF gas

Abstract
P‐branch laser oscillations have been observed in the v = 1 → v = 0 band of HF gas, optically pumped by R‐branch lines of a pulsed HF laser. The observed gains are large (> 10% cm−1) and the conversion efficiencies are high. In a ring cavity the system shows directional gain anisotropy characteristic of unidirectional laser amplifiers proposed recently.