The Berkeley tunable far infrared laser spectrometers

Abstract

A detailed description is presented for a tunable far infrared laser spectrometer based on frequency mixing of an optically pumped molecular gas laser with tunable microwave radiation in a Schottky point contact diode. The system has been operated on over 30 laser lines in the range 10-100 cm -1 and exhibits a maximum absorption sensitivity near one part in 106. Each laser line can be tuned by ±110 GHz with first-order sidebands. Applications of this instrument are detailed in the preceding paper.