A hydrogen fluoride/deuterium fluoride laser at the Naval Postgraduate School

• Main Authors: Funk, William Ted, Sontheimer, Richard Francis
• Other Authors: Cooper, Alfred W.
• Language: en_US
• Published: Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School 2014
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10945/41048

Approved for public release, distribution unlimited === A small scale hydrogen fluoride (HF) or deuterium fluoride (DF) laser was constructed for the Atmospheric Optical Propagation Program at the Naval Postgraduate School. The laser, with almost forty individually selectable wavelengths between 2.5 and 4.1 micrometers, will prove to be a valuable instrument for the continued studies of laser propagation. In the HF mode, a multiline power out of seven watts was acheived with a confocal cavity arrangement. In the single-line HF mode, fifteen separate wavelengths were distinguished. Three watts of multiline power was achieved in the DF mode while eighteen separate single-line wavelengths were obtained including 160 milliwatts at 3.8007 micrometers, the P2(8) transition. This wavelength is of particular interest to the Navy because of its excellent propagation characteristics in the marine boundary layer.