The possibility of an efficient tunable molecular iodine laser near 340 nm

Abstract
We have observed intense band emissions between 340 and 344 nm from electron‐beam‐excited mixtures of high‐pressure argon gas and iodine vapor. This emission appears to be from molecular iodine. Using the 357.6‐nm band from an Ar/N2 mixture as a calibration, we have measured the fluorescence yield in this wavelength region to be 70±24%. From this we computed an over‐all fluorescence energy efficiency of 13±4%. Based on these observations, we suggest the feasibility of an efficient high‐energy electron‐beam‐pumped argon‐iodine laser. The gain of such an argon‐iodine laser should be comparable to that of the Ar/N2 second positive laser.