Presenter: Samuel Karlson − Physics
Faculty Mentor(s): Brian Patterson
Session: (Virtual) Oral Panel—Inner Space and Internet
We used a Monte Carlo computer algorithm to simulate the effects of radiation trapping in a potassium vapor cell with nitrogen and helium buffer gases. Understanding the effects of radiation trapping is important in applications such as the creation of gas lasers or the validation of atomic models. For example, the impacts of radiation trapping are significant when scaling diode-pumped alkali lasers (DPAL) to high powers. Simulations were made for buffer gas pressures as high as 1000 torr and cell temperatures as high as 200°C. A variety of cell geometries was studied. We used experimental data to validate our simulations. In the experiment, a femtosecond laser pulse excited potassium atoms along the D2 absorption line and the resulting fluorescence was observed as a function of time. An exponential fit of these points determined the excited state lifetime. A comparison of the statistical model and experimental results will be discussed.