METHANOL AND THE OPTICALLY PUMPED FAR-INFRARED LASER

New results on the generation and spectroscopic analysis of optically pumped Par-infrared (FIR) laser emission from CH3OH have been obtained as part of a systematic study of methanol isotopomers as FIR laser so urces utilizing the extended line coverage available from a recently d eveloped high-resolution CO2 laser of high efficiency. For normal CH3O H, six new short-wavelength lines have been found using a 2 m long Fab ry-Perot FIR laser cavity, Accurate heterodyne frequency measurements are reported for 14 CH3OH FIR laser lines, nearly all above 100 cm(-1) , as well as accurate frequency offsets for most of the corresponding CO2 pump lines. Spectroscopic assignments are presented for nine high- frequency FIR laser lines in four pump systems.