Repetition rate scaling up to 100 kHz of a small-scale (50 W) kinetically enhanced copper vapor laser

Abstract

We report on the pulse repetition frequency (PRF) scaling of a small-scale (25 mm bore and 0.61 m long) copper vapor laser (CVL). When operated as an elemental CVL, the laser had a stable output power of 15 W at 15 kHz PRF (9.6% efficiency). After the addition of small quantities of hydrogen and hydrogen chloride to the neon buffer gas, the maximum recorded stable output power increased to 41 W at 25 kHz PRF (1.4% efficiency). This represents a record stable specific output power of 0.14 W cm/sup -3/. Pulse repetition frequency scaling of the laser was demonstrated up to 100 kHz where the output power was 9.0 W. By operating the laser at elevated input powers, transient output powers of over 50 W were achieved between PRFs of 25-40 kHz. These results are the highest recorded specific output powers (0.17 W cm/sup -3/) for a CVL with this tube diameter.