Power-supply circuit and dynamic characteristics of a discharge in a nitrogen laser
Results are presented of an experimental investigation into the dynamic characteristics of a pump discharge in a nitrogen laser having an output power of approx.1 MW. Absolute values of the energy input to the discharge and of the discharge resistance were measured over a pressure range of 30--300 Torr with a time resolution of approx.10/sup -9/ sec. New criteria are considered, on the basis of the results obtained, to act as a guide in developing high-power gas lasers using a Blumlein pulse-shaping line to energize the pump discharge. It is shown that more than 50% of the energy initially stored in the power-supply circuit can be fed into the discharge at a pump power of approx.10 MW/cm/sup 3/ under overvoltage conditions. The similarity between the dynamic current-voltage characteristics of N/sub 2/- and CO/sub 2/-laser atmospheric pressure discharges is mentioned. A simple circuit for supplying power to a multimodule laser is proposed, which allows operation as an oscillator--amplifier system. In the amplifier regime, lasing in XeF was obtained with an output energy of > or approx. = 20 mJ.
- Research Organization:
- P. N. Lebedev Physics Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow
- OSTI ID:
- 6934338
- Journal Information:
- Sov. J. Quant. Electron. (Engl. Transl.); (United States), Vol. 8:3
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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