Visible and ultraviolet plasma lines of the He-Ne gas laser

Abstract

A study of Helium-Neon laser plasma lines was done using a double grating spectrometer and a He-Ne laser with an emission wavelength of 632.8 nm (15,802 cm$^{-1}$). The absolute wavenumber, measured to within $\sim0.1$ cm$^{-1}$, and wavelength of each plasma line are presented, along with intensity and shift relative to the main laser line. Several of the measured lines have not been reported in the literature and are observed at shifts between $0-1500$ cm$^{-1}$ from the laser line, a spectral region commonly probed by optical Raman scattering experiments. Accounting for the possibility of second-order diffraction permitted many previously unassigned lines to be attributed to known He or Ne electronic transitions with wavelengths in the ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum.