Possible use of alkali metals to obtain population inversion in atomic iodine

The possibility of population inversion of the 5²P_1/2 and 5²P_3/2 levels in atomic iodine as a result of a fast recombination reaction between the atomic iodine and radicals R (such as CF₃ and C₃F₇) is discussed. The proposed method is based on the experimentally observed difference between the reactivity of the iodine atoms in the ground 5²P_3/2 and excited 5²P_1/2 states in various recombination reactions. In this type of laser, an important part is played by the alkali metal which is the chemical source of free radicals and iodine atoms. Numerical calculations are made using a kinetic model of the proposed laser. The main design parameters of a feasible iodine recombination laser are estimated.