Abstract

We have performed two experiments in which four-wave parametric oscillation has been used for the first time to generate coherent radiation in the VUV. In the first case, outputs at 184.9 and 143.5 nm were produced in mercury vapor using 280-nm pump radiation. The tunable pump radiation was produced by frequency doubling the output of a Nd:YAG pumped dye laser in a KDP crystal. Pulses of up to 20 mJ at 280 nm, with a 4-5-nsec duration and 0.3-cm⁻¹ bandwidth, were available at a repetition rate of 10 pps.

© 1981 Optical Society of America