Small–sized sealed–off TEA–CO2 laser with a high energy pumping density

Abstract

The effect of carbon coatings of cathodes for igniting volume discharges in CO 2 - laser mixtures of atmospheric pressure on the discharge current magnitude and the energy inserted into the volume discharge plasma (pumping energy) is studied. It was found that the deposition of carbon coatings on the working surfaces of the cathodes leads to an increase in the current, pumping energy and laser radiation energy per pulse by 1.8 ÷ 2 times. The reason of the increase in these parameters is an increase in the field emission component of the total volume discharge current.