High-power argon excimer laser at 126 nm pumped by an electron beam

Abstract

A high-power argon excimer laser has been developed with an output power exceeding 2 MW in the VUV region at 126 nm. As an alternative to a conventional Al/MgF(2)-coated mirror, which was susceptible to damage, an uncoated quartz plate was successfully used as a reflector for reproducible high-power operation of the argon excimer laser without any mirror damage. Observation of the temporal behavior of the laser pulse in relation to that of the gain coefficient is discussed.