Experimental Demonstration of Optical Laser Oscillation with Population Inversion in Helium-Neon Plasma

Ved Chirayath†
†Stanford University Department of Physics, Stanford, California

Population inversion in the energy levels of Neon in a Helium-Neon plasma situated in a Fabry- Perot optical resonator is observed and confirms the four-level laser pumping mechanism. Amplification in the active medium, by means of a measured increase in photon flux density, is observed for the 𝟑𝒔𝟐 → 𝟐𝒑𝟒 transition in Neon resulting in lasing state at 6328 Ȧ with a continuous power output of 20 ± 3 μW.