Generation of continuous-wave 194-nm radiation by sum-frequency mixing in an external ring cavity.

Several microwatts of tunable cw radiation near 194 nm in a linewidth of less than 2 MHz have been generated by sum-frequency mixing the radiation from a frequency-doubled argon-ion laser with the radiation from a ring dye laser in a crystal of potassium pentaborate. An external ring cavity resonant with the dye laser gives an enhancement factor of about 14 in the sum-frequency-generated radiation power. The Doppler-limited absorption spectrum of the 6s(2)S((1/2))-6p(2)P((1/2)) first resonance line of natural Hg II has been resolved, and the vacuum wave number for the mass-202 isotope has been measured to be 51485.904(20) cm(-1).