Radiation-induced collisional pumping of molecules containing few atoms

The authors analyze the radiation-induced collisional pumping of few-atom molecules by laser emission taking into account both collisional and noncollisional processes of vibrational energy transfer in a molecule. For typical values of the parameters the vibrational energy of the molecules was found to depend on the laser emission intensity; regions of weak absorption, optimum absorption, and saturation appear as the pumping rate rises. Qualitative general conclusions are reached concerning the optimum conditions for the realization, in a medium absorbing laser emission, of either nonequilibrium dissociation or a chemical reaction involving vibrationally excited molecules.