The Efficiency of the Pumping of the Lasers Based on Self-Terminating Atomic Transitions Operating in the Energy Input Cut-Off Mode

Alexey Burdin,Anatoly Soldatov,Yury Polunin,Ivan Razmahnin,Nikolay Yudin,E Siemens,A.D Mehtiyev,A.V Yurchenko,V.I Syryamkin

doi:10.1051/matecconf/201815501030

Alexey Burdin, Anatoly Soldatov + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201815501030

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Abstract

The analysis of the electro-physical processes in the discharge circuit of the lasers based on the self-terminating transitions of metal atoms (LSTM) and the electrodes placed in the cold buffer zones of the gas discharge tube (GDT) is occurred. That design of the GDT can provide the efficient lasing at the reduction of the current flowing through the switch to zero after the charging of the capacitive components of the circuit from the storage capacitor. Under the circumstances the pumping of the active medium is determined by the energy input from the peaking capacitor and, consequently, the efficiency of the pumping can be increased by an order of magnitude, if (using a managed switch) the energy input into the active medium from the storage capacitor is “cut-off” after charging the capacitive components of the circuit. It was shown that the efficiency values of ∼ 9-11 % and of ∼ 5-6 % for the copper and gold vapor, lasers could be achieved.

Highlights

The lasers based on the self-terminating transitions of metal atoms (LSTM) are one of the most efficient coherent lasing sources in the visible spectrum among gas lasers and the predicted copper vapor laser efficiency is ~ 10 % [1], this is by an order of magnitude more than the achieved practical efficiency [2,3,4]
As follows from the presented results the excluding of the energy input into the active medium [5, 6] occurs before the laser pulse, i.e. after charging C0, when the current flowing through the switch decreases to zero, that allows to close the tacitron
The first was studied in [12] where the discharging of the storage capacitor by the high-rate switch through the active medium of the gas discharge tube (GDT), which electrodes are placed in the hot zone of the discharge channel, was proposed

Summary

Introduction

The lasers based on the self-terminating transitions of metal atoms (LSTM) are one of the most efficient coherent lasing sources in the visible spectrum among gas lasers and the predicted copper vapor laser efficiency is ~ 10 % [1], this is by an order of magnitude more than the achieved practical efficiency [2,3,4]. The highest value of the efficiency of the pumping of ~ 9 % of copper vapor laser operating in the energy input cut-off mode (the energy input into the active medium was excluded after a laser pulse) was achieved [5, 6]. It can be explained by the fact that sharp-front pulses, which duration is equal to the lifetime of the population inversion of the operating levels in the active medium [1], should pump the LSTM. The purpose of the present work is the research of the electro-physical processes, in the discharge circuit of the laser, which determine the possibility of operating in the energy input cut-off mode

The electro-physical processes in the discharge circuit

Conclusion