High specific laser output energy at 157 nm from an electron beam pumped He/Ne/F2 gas mixture

Abstract

The output energy and the temporal behavior of a molecular F*2 laser pumped by a coaxial electron beam have been measured in gas mixtures of He/F2 and He/Ne/F2. The highest output energy of 172 mJ has been obtained in a mixture of He/Ne/F2 (19.9%/80%/0.1%) at a pressure of 12 bar, corresponding to a specific output energy of 10.8 J/ℓ and an intrinsic efficiency of 2.6%.