Comment on "Widely tunable terahertz gas lasers"

TL;DR

This paper critiques existing mathematical formulas for terahertz molecular lasers, demonstrating their inconsistencies with simple models and overestimations of efficiency, and proposes an alternative calculation method.

Contribution

It provides a critical analysis of prior formulas and introduces a revised calculation approach for better accuracy in predicting laser performance.

Findings

Previous formulas overestimate conversion efficiency

Identified inconsistencies with simple laser models

Proposed an alternative calculation method

Abstract

Chevalier et al. (Science, 15 November 2019, p. 856-860) report mathematical formulas and a table predicting the threshold and the output power of terahertz molecular lasers based on various molecules. We show that these formulas are not coherent with the simple model used to describe this kind of laser, and that they largely overestimate the conversion efficiency. We suggest an alternative calculation.