Investigation of radial temperature gradients in diode pumped alkali lasers using tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy

Abstract

Heat loads in Diode Pumped Alkali Lasers (DPAL) have been investigated using a diode laser to probe the radial dependence of the absorbance. A TiS pump laser heats the medium in a T=50-100˚C cesium heat pipe with 5 Torr nitrogen used for quenching. A tunable diode laser probes the spectral absorbance of the cesium cell. Local alkali concentration, temperature, and saturation broadening modify Voigt lineshapes in the wing of the hyperfine split lines. The temperature within the pumped volume exceeds the wall temperature by almost 200 C.