Long-pulse KrCl laser with a high discharge quality

The discharge quality and optimum pump parameters of a long-pulse high-pressure gas discharge excited KrCl laser are investigated. A three-electrode prepulse--mainpulse excitation circuit is employed as pump source. The discharge volume contains a gas mixture of HCl/Kr/Ne operated at a total pressur...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics. B, Lasers and optics Lasers and optics, 2007-06, Vol.88 (1), p.61-66
Main Authors: CASPER, L. C, BASTIAENS, H. M. J, PETERS, P. J. M, BOLLER, K.-J, HOFSTRA, R. M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Beam characteristics: profile, intensity, and power
spatial pattern formation
Density
Discharge
Divergence
Exact sciences and technology
Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications)
Gas lasers including excimer and metal-vapor lasers
Intense particle beams and radiation sources
Laser optical systems: design and operation
Lasers
Optics
Optimization
Physics
Physics of gases, plasmas and electric discharges
Physics of plasmas and electric discharges
Plasma devices for generation of coherent radiation
Plasma properties
Pulse duration
Pumps
Resonators
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Summary:The discharge quality and optimum pump parameters of a long-pulse high-pressure gas discharge excited KrCl laser are investigated. A three-electrode prepulse--mainpulse excitation circuit is employed as pump source. The discharge volume contains a gas mixture of HCl/Kr/Ne operated at a total pressure of up to 5 bar. For a plane--plane resonator, the divergence of both output laser beams is measured. A low beam divergence of less than 1 mrad is measured as a result of the very high discharge homogeneity. A maximum laser pulse duration of 150 ns (FWHM) is achieved for a pump duration of 270 ns (FWHM) and a power density of 340 kWcm-3. Pumping the discharge under optimum conditions employing a stable resonator results in a maximum specific energy of 0.45 J/l with a laser pulse duration of 117 ns and an efficiency of 0.63% based on the deposited energy.
ISSN:0946-2171
1432-0649
DOI:10.1007/s00340-007-2621-y