Abstract

The possibility of using nuclear emissions (in particular, uranium-fission fragments) to create a powerful source of stimulated VUV radiation is analyzed. The starting point in the analysis is provided by the results of recent investigations of a krypton-xenon mixture in an extended dc discharge, which indicate that continuous lasing is possible in the VUV region. Experience in transforming the kinetic energy of nuclear particles into the laser radiation of inert gases (in the visible and near-IR regions) makes it possible to homogeneously pump extended volumes of inert gases at atmospheric pressures and to transfer 20-30% of the embedded energy into spontaneous VUV excimer radiation. According to our estimates, the power of the quasi-continuous laser VUV radiation can reach 1-2kW/L in this case.

© 2010 Optical Society of America

Enhancement of the 2062-Å Atomic-Iodine Line in an Iodine Inert-Gas Flashlamp

Algird G. Leiga and John A. McInally
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 57(3) 317-322 (1967)

Density behavior and wave-front error for a nuclear-reactor-pumped gas laser

A. Corvo
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 8(8) 1692-1703 (1991)

Narrowband tunable VUV radiation generated by nonresonant sum- and difference-frequency mixing in xenon and krypton

R. Hilbig and R. Wallenstein
Appl. Opt. 21(5) 913-917 (1982)

Tunable VUV frequency comb for ^229mTh nuclear spectroscopy

Chuankun Zhang, Peng Li, Jie Jiang, Lars von der Wense, John F. Doyle, Martin E. Fermann, and Jun Ye
Opt. Lett. 47(21) 5591-5594 (2022)

Prospects for Developing a Laser Based on Electrochemiluminescence

R. M. Measures
Appl. Opt. 13(5) 1121-1133 (1974)