Abstract

We describe a simple apparatus for spectroscopic studies in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) spectral region which is based on third-harmonic generation (THG) in rare gases. The apparatus, shown in Fig. 1, consists of three chambers, each of which functions as a proportional counter. Light from an N₂-pumped dye laser is focused into the first chamber containing the tripling gas. The VUV radiation is then collimated and passed through a sample cell containing flat-plate electrodes and into the third chamber. This last cell acts as a VUV photon detector via the photoelectric effect. In all three chambers electrons, produced by ionization, are amplified in a counter gas and detected at the electrodes.

© 1982 Optical Society of America