Atomic fluorine laser excited directly by sliding discharge

Abstract

A sliding-discharge directly-excited pulsed atomic fluorine laser was realized for the first time and investigated experimentally. The atomic fluorine was produced by dissociation of F2 in a He:F2 mixture by a fast-pulsed electrical discharge. The optimum active mixture was found to be 1.6% F2 and 98.4% He, at a total pressure of 90 mbar. A doubling electrical circuit was used for sliding discharge excitation. The laser performance characteristics (the voltage and laser pulses, output energy and gas mixtures) were studied. The laser spectrum consisted of three lines at 703.7 nm (3p2P03/2 yields 3s2P03/2) 712.8 nm (3p2P01/2 yields 3s2P1/2) and 731.1 nm (3p2S01/2 yields 3s2P1/2). The output power of the laser was higher than 1 kW and the pulse duration (at FWHM) measured was about 30 ns.