Stimulated emission and lasing in laser-induced plasma plume

The lasing effect is demonstrated in laser plasmas induced on various metal targets and pumped by a laser tuned in resonance with a strong optical transition of a metal. The intense, polarized and low-divergent radiation is emitted from a longitudinally pumped plasma plume in forward and backward directions with respect to the pump beam. Lasing occurs only within duration of the pumping pulse. The effect is found for elements of 13th and 14th groups and for Ca, Ti, Zr, Fe and Ni. The Einstein coefficients for spontaneous emission of all lasing transitions are higher than 10⁷ s^-1. For some elements like Al and In, a three-level lasing scheme is realized. For others, like Tl, both three- and four-level lasing schemes are realized. It is found that the longitudinal pump geometry is more efficient than the transversal one.