Saturation characteristics of SF6 absorption at the 10.4 μm band of CO2

Abstract

Measurements were made of the saturation characteristics of the SF6 absorption at the 10.4 μm band of CO2, using a pulsed CO2 laser. It is shown that the observed nonlinear absorption properties can be divided into three characteristic regions, namely P(12)–P(16), P(18)–P(22), and P(24)–P(30), each of which has distinctive features in the measured transmission as a function of incident radiation intensity. In each region, this transmission behaviour, together with associated dynamical effects such as pulse shaping, are amenable to interpretation by means of a four-level model for the SF6 absorption. The relevant molecular parameters are determined by comparison of theory with experiment.