Laser on nitrogen-electronegative gas mixtures, pumped by inductive energy storage generator: Experiment and theoretical model

The advantages of inductive energy storage (IES) generators for increasing the pulse energy, power, and duration for nitrogen laser pumped by self-sustained transverse discharge have been experimentally demonstrated. A theoretical model is developed and the operation of IES-pumped laser on nitrogen-electronegative gas mixtures is numerically simulated. It is shown experimentally and theoretically that, adding electronegative gases, one can control the pulse shape of lasing on the C3II u -B3II g transition in nitrogen. The increase in the electric field strength in the laser gap in N2-NF3 and N2-SF6 mixtures produced 337.1-nm laser pulses consisting of two spaced peaks and 40–50-ns pulses close to rectangular. The increase in the laser active volume to 6 l (discharge cross section to 6×10 cm2) in N2–SF6 mixtures made it possible to obtain the maximum output energy (Q=110 mJ) and UV power (P las =6 MW). In N2-NF3 mixtures, the laser pulse duration was up to ∼100 ns with an energy up to Q=30 mJ.