Red-F* Laser and VUV-F2 Emission Pumped at Low Pressure by Longitudinal, Lamp-Like Discharge

Abstract

Red-fluorine-atom (Red-F* ) laser oscillation (λ = 630-780 nm) and strong fluorescence of VUV-F2 emission (λ = 157 nm) are observed in a lamp-like discharge in a longitudinal discharge excitation tube. The laser tube consists of a 30 cm long Pyrex glass pipe with an inner diameter of 2 mm, and a step-up transformer coupled directly to the discharge tube without a high-voltage switch. Excitation is produced by wall-coupled discharge. The laser pulse width is 6.1 ns at 100 Torr (13.3 kPa, with an F2 concentration of 5 %) when a slow-rising voltage pulse of -40 kV (rise time: 253 ns) is applied. VUV-F2 emission of a 24.5 ns (FWHM) pulse width was generated simultaneously with the red-F* laser.