High Power XeCl Laser with a Spiker-Sustainer Circuit-Characteristics of Repetitive Operation.

Abstract

High repetitive operation is demonstrated of a high power XeCl laser with a surface corona dis-charge electrode for preionization and a spiker-sustainer circuit. A novel operating mode (reverse voltage mode) for the spiker-sustainer circuit is proposed, and it is confirmed that the reverse voltage mode is superior to the usual operating mode (the magnetic diode mode) in high repetitive operations, provided that the timing of the preionization is properly set before the application of the spiker voltage to establish a stable discharge with high repetition rate. Repetitive operation over 500 Hz is achieved with a pulse duration of 340 ns. Maximum output power of 505 W is attained with an efficiency of 2.1% at a repetition frequency of 540 Hz.