Vibrational relaxation and laser extraction in rare gas halide excimers

Abstract

Recent experiments have demonstrated that the finite rate of vibrational relaxation in the formation of KrF affects the saturation characteristics of the KrF(B) state during extraction of laser light. We have assembled a collisional radiative model using calculated Einstein A coefficients for the lowest twenty KrF states and an approximate calculation of the rate of vibrational energy transfer between KrF and a buffer gas. The model describes the flow of excitation through the vibrational levels of KrF, and demonstrates the effects of vibrational relaxation on KrF(B) saturation and spectra. The results of these calculations agree qualitatively with the published experimental results. In addition, we find that, due to the relaxation kinetics of KrF, Kr2F, a major absorber, is not truly saturable.