High Efficiency, Long Pulse, FIR Raman Conversion in Ammonia

Generally the quantum efficiency of FIR Raman generation in molecular gases is below the theoretical value. This disagreement is particularly evident in Raman scattering from pulsed sources with short pulse length~ when the vibrational saturation limits the power conversion. Other nonlinear processes can overcome this saturation, but they require a very intense pump power for too short a time to use the FIR radiation in high sensitive experiments with heterodyne detection. This is the Case, for instance, of RFWM. In this work we describe the experimental conditions to achieve a high efficiency 90 micron Raman conversion in ammonia, with both short and long pulses.