Pulsed light desorption of molecular nitrogen from a glass surface

Experimental results on the pulsed light desorption (PLD) of molecular Nitrogen from the surface of C-52 and Pyrex glasses are presented. The aim of the study was to determine the experimental conditions to obtain the maximum manifestation of the PLD effect of molecular gases. These studies were conducted in vacuum glass cells of different sizes and shapes filled by Nitrogen, whose inner surface was illuminated by the light of a powerful flash lamp. The variation in the density of the desorbed gas in the cell caused by PLD was studied using both a mass spectrometer and a vacuum gauge attached to the illuminated cells. The experimental results are in qualitative agreement with the theoretical model developed. We demonstrates that PLD can drastically increase a peak density of desorbed Nitrogen in a cell and the maximal Nitrogen density can be achieved in a small diameter long cell of cylindrical form. We believe that the results of this experiment can be applied to the loading of some gases inside a hollow-core, photonic band-gap fiber to generate a large optical depth for an experiment in low-light-level nonlinear optics.