| In this thesis, the continuous-wave (cw) Raman laser in H2 is studied both theoretically and experimentally. It is based on stimulated Raman scattering in H2—the pump laser is shifted to a longer wavelength Stokes beam by interacting with H2 molecules. Using high-finesse cavity enhancement, the threshold of the Stokes generation can be lowered to sub-milli-Watt levels, therefore making low-power cw laser pumping practical.; In this thesis, a semi-classical theory is first developed for the cw Raman laser. Then two experiments pumped by diode lasers are presented. The experiments achieve wide tunability and high conversion efficiency of the vibrational Stokes output. The theory agrees well with the experimental measurements in the steady state. In addition to the vibrational Stokes output, rotational Stokes emission is also experimentally obtained. Finally, longitudinal-mode bistability and mode-hop hysteresis in the rotational Stokes laser are experimentally observed. A theory based on a nonlinear optical wave mixing process successfully explains the observation. |
