High Resolution Coherent Raman Spectroscopy of Gases

Abstract

Although it has been known for well over a decade that the stimulated Raman gain and inverse Raman absorption processes are potentially powerful tools for Raman spectroscopy in the gas phase [1,2], the unavailability of precisely controlled, tuneable, narrow line-width laser sources has severely hindered the effective development of these two forms of stimulated Raman spectroscopy (SRS). Recently, low-power cw laser sources have been employed along with synchronous detection to obtain stimulated Raman gain spectra of the ν₁ fundamental in CH₄ under near Doppler-limited conditions [3]. Although these results have served to illustrate the inherently high sensitivity of the process and demonstrated its ability to yield complex Raman spectra with very high resolution, they also reflect the limitations imposed upon the technique by the use of low-power laser sources.

This work supported by the U. S. Department of Energy