Time-resolved study of laser emission in nitrogen gas pumped by two near IR femtosecond laser pulses

The time profile of a lasing signal at 391.4 nm emitted by a weakly ionized gas of nitrogen molecules at low pressure is measured under double excitation with intense femtosecond laser pulses at 800 nm. An abrupt decrease in emission occurs at the time of arrival of the second pulse. It is explained by a transfer of population from ground to first excited ionic level and by a disruption of coherence, terminating the conditions for lasing in a V-scheme without population inversion.