Polychromatic, continuous-wave mirrorless lasing from monochromatic pumping of cesium vapor

Abstract

We report on studies of simultaneous continuous-wave mirrorless lasing on multiple optical transitions, realized by pumping hot cesium vapor with laser light resonant with the 6$S_{1/2}\rightarrow 8$P$_{3/2}$ transition. The multiplicity of decay paths for the excited atoms to their ground state is responsible for the emergence of lasing in a number of transitions, observed here in at least seven wavelengths in the infrared (IR), and at two wavelengths in the blue. We study the properties of the fields generated in the cesium vapor, such as optical power, directionality and optical linewidth.