Powerful Exciplex XeCl Laser with a Modular Excitation System
摘要
Characteristics of a developed electric-discharge exciplex XeCl laser featuring a modular pumping system and using a bipolar charging voltage were studied. The pumping system consisted of three pairs of modules connected to a common load, i.e., the laser interelectrode discharge gap. It was shown that the modular transverse discharge excitation system allowed the operating voltage to be reduced to 36 kV with a discharge gap of 7 cm, the duration of the discharge-current pulse to be shortened, and the pumping power of the active medium and the energy input into it to be increased. The laser generation characteristics were studied as a function of the active medium composition and its excitation conditions. A laser output energy of ~3 J was achieved using a working mixture of composition HCl:Xe:Ne = 1:15:3000 under the pressure of 4 atm at a charging voltage of 36 kV. The laser generation pulse length was ~120 ns at half-height.