Wilson, William L.2018-12-182018-12-181977Jenkins, James Alan. "Design, construction, and operation of a submillimeter waveguide laser system and Stark modulator." (1977) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/104453">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/104453</a>.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/104453A submillimeter laser system, consisting of a methanol waveguide laser and its CO^ laser pump, was built. The CQ laser used ZnSe optics and was diffraction grating tuned, making available over 8 lines in the 9.6um and 1.6um bands. The typical output power level was 12W. This CO laser provided the pump radiation for a waveguide laser which used a precision-bored Cu tube to (l) confine the discharge plasma and the pump radiation and (2) serve as a waveguide for the submillimeter radiation field. Cu mirrors placed at the ends of the tube defined the laser cavity. A coupling hole in each mirror allowed 1.6um CO radiation to enter the cavity at one end and 118.8um radiation, generated by a rotational transition in methanol, to leave at the other end. The 3mW of submillimeter light generated was used to study the effects of Stark modulating methanol in a cell through which the light was passed. A 2% modulation index was observed for a Stark cell pressure of 3umHg and a Stark electric field of amplitude 1V/cm and frequency 2Hz. It was found that the Stark effect was linear and that an increase in electric field led to a decrease in submillimeter wave absorption in the cell.65 ppengCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.ThesisRICE2088reformatted digitalTHESIS E.E. 1977 JENKINS