Electron beam pumped tunable excimer lasers

Thesis/Dissertation · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:5431946

Smayling, M C

Laser characteristics were studied extensively for the broadband rare gas halide excimers Xe/sub 2/Cl, Kr/sub 2/F, and XeF (C ..-->.. A). The trimer Kr/sub 2/F was first observed to lase during these investigations, while Xe/sub 2/Cl and XeF (C ..-->.. A) had been previously demonstrated. Since all three excimers have unbound ground states, a spectrally wide emission bandwidth is available for wavelength tuning. Several system parameters were studied for each of the lasers. These included mixture optimization, variation of optical resonator configuration, and influence of different halogen donors and buffer gases. Tuning was accomplished by using cavity mirrors with different center wavelengths. The trimer Xe/sub 2/Cl had a nominal peak wavelength of 518 nm, with a tuning range of approx. 15 nm and a ..delta..lambda of 20 nm (FWHM). Laser pulse widths were about 36 nsec, and were delayed by 35 nsec from the e-beam excitation current pulse. Kinetics of Xe/sub 2/Cl* were also studied, with the following results: a radiation lifetime of 135 (+75-60) nsec; a CCl/sub 4/ quenching constant of 6 +- 1 x 10/sup -10/ cm/sup 3/ sec/sup -1/; a xenon quenching constant of < 5 x 10/sup -13/ cm/sup 3/ sec/sup -1/; an argon quenching constant of 3 +- 1 x 10/sup -14/ cm/sup 3/ sec/sup -1/; and a formation constant (from XeCl* via Xe and Ar collisions) of 1.5 + -0.5 x 10/sup -31/ cm/sup 6/ sec/sup -1/. The triatomic excimer Kr/sub 2/F lased at 436 nm with a ..delta..lambda of 25 nm. The pulse duration was approx. 50 nsec, with a delay of 35 nsec for the onset of laser action. Atomic absorptions by krypton metastables were identified in the laser spectrum. The dimer XeF (C ..-->.. A) had the largest laser output intensity. The peak wavelength was 486 nm, with a ..delta..lambda of 10 nm and a tuning range of 30 nm. Pulse duration was approx. 30 nsec.

• OSTI ID: 5431946
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
420300* -- Engineering-- Lasers-- (-1989)
CHLORIDES
CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
DIMERS
ELECTRICAL PUMPING
ELECTRON BEAM PUMPING
ENERGY LEVELS
EXCITED STATES
FLUORIDES
FLUORINE COMPOUNDS
FREQUENCY SELECTION
GAS LASERS
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
KRYPTON COMPOUNDS
KRYPTON FLUORIDES
LASERS
OPERATION
PERFORMANCE
PUMPING
RARE GAS COMPOUNDS
TUNING
WAVELENGTHS
XENON CHLORIDES
XENON COMPOUNDS
XENON FLUORIDES