A metastable argon laser operating at 912 nm has been demonstrated by optically pumping with a pulsed titanium sapphire laser to investigate the temporal dynamics of an Advanced Noble Gas Laser (ANGL). Metastable argon concentrations on the order of 10(11) cm(-3) were maintained with the use of a radio frequency (RF) capacitively coupled discharge. The end-pumped laser produced output powers under 2 mW of average power with pulse lengths on the order of 100 ns. A comparison between empirical results and a four level laser model using longitudinally average pump and inter-cavity intensities is made. An alternative, highly-efficient method of argon metastable production for ANGL was explored using carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers.

A critical parameter for understanding the performance of Chemical Oxygen Iodine Lasers is the yield of singlet oxygen produced by the generator. Off-Axis Integrated Cavity Output Spectroscopy (Off-Axis ICOS) has been utilized to measure the absolute density of both ground-state and singlet oxygen in the cavity of a COIL laser.

The results of an experimental investigation of an optically pumped vibrational laser in HCl are reported. Two different excitation sources were used: a Nd:yttrium–aluminum–garnet laser pumped optical parametric oscillator and a Raman shifted alexandrite laser. Overtone pumping on the (2,0) and (3,0) bands was employed to produce laser oscillation on the (3,2) and (2,1) bands near 3.8 μm. We also developed a model for the optically pumped laser and compare predictions of the model to the observed behavior of the laser. The photon efficiency of the HCl laser was found to be approximately 60%, consistent with model predictions and with previous optically pumped hydrogen halide lasers.