			15min:

SHORT-WAVELENGTH (30 TO 150 µm) OPTICALLY PUMPED LASER LINES IN A METHANOL LASER.

E. C. C. VASCONCELLOS, Instituto de F\'\isica "Gleb Wataghin," Departamento de Eletr\^onica Qu\^antica, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), 13083-970 Campinas, SP, Brazil; L. R. ZINK AND K. M. EVENSON, Time and Frequency Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80303-3328.

A new short-wavelength far-infrared laser is used to generate optically pumped far-infrared laser radiation in the wavelength range 30 to 150 µm in methanol. The large-amplitude torsional motion in methanol accounts for its rich far-infrared spectra. Its infrared absorption bands overlap well with the CO₂ laser providing for the generation of strong high-frequency laser lines in the far-infrared. Methanol is an excellent short wavelength laser medium and about 40% of its lines have wavelengths shorter than 150 µm. We have already obtained a four-fold increase in the number of laser lines in the 50 µm region, and are now pushing to increase the density of laser lines with \lambda < 50 µm. A list of the strong laser lines observed in methanol, in the range 30 to 150 µm, will be presented in this work.