Patent ID: 7286575

Claim:
A method, comprising: providing a length of a solid dielectric photonic band-gap fiber material having holes, a core located within said length and a gain medium located within said length, wherein said length is configured in an optical cavity including an output coupler, wherein said gain medium comprises a mixture of at least one buffer gas and an alkali atomic vapor having a D 1 transition, wherein said at least one buffer gas has the dual purpose of collisionally broadening a D 2 transition of said alkali atomic vapor and collisionally transferring pump excitation from the upper level of said D 2 transition to the upper level of said D 1 transition at a rate larger than the radiative decay rate of either of these two levels; holding said gain medium at a temperature T 1 , wherein said length comprises a hollow fiber optic that is contiguously connected to two ovens, one at each end held at temperature T 2 and T 3 respectively, wherein T 1 >T 2 , T 3 ; and optically pumping said gain medium to produce laser output.