Nitrogen, atomic fluorine and CO 2 lasers excited by a pulsed inductive discharge

Abstract

The experimental investigations results of spectral, energy and temporal parameters of the first inductive N₂, FI and CO₂ gas lasers are reported. The excitation system for formation of the achievement the pulsed cylindrical inductive discharge in gas mixtures is described. For the first time the nitrogen inductive laser (337.1 nm) with pulse power of 350 kW was created. The generation energy of 4.6 mJ with the pulse duration (FWHM) of 12±1 ns was achieved. The total efficiency of nitrogen inductive laser was 0.05 %. The laser beam has a ring form with an outer diameter of 43 mm, thickness of 1.5-2.0 mm and the divergence of 0.3 mrad. For FI inductive laser the lasing was observed on 8 lines (623-755 nm). The maximal output energy of 2.6 mJ was achieved in He:F2-100:1 gas mixture. The pulse duration was 80±1 ns (FWHM) that correspond to pulse power of 32 kW. The total efficiency of the FI inductive laser was 0.01 %. The ring laser beam has an outer diameter of 43 mm, thickness of 3.0 mm and the divergence of 0.4 mrad. For CO₂ (10.6 um) inductive laser the maximal output energy of 150 mJ was achieved in gas mixture He:N₂:CO₂ - 8:1:1. The pulse duration (FWHM) was 170 us that corresponds to a pulse power of 0.9 kW. The laser beam has a ring form with dimension of an outer diameter of 33 mm with the thickness about 6.0-6.5 mm and the divergence of 4.0 mrad.