Properties of He–Ne–Zn Laser

A He–Ne–Zn gas mixture is demonstrated to be capable of providing tricolor laser oscillation in either the red (6328 Å-Ne I), yellow (5894 Å-Zn II), or blue (4924 Å-Zn II) spectral regions with a total output power of nearly 10 mW. An observed quenching of the blue (4924 Å-Zn II) laser transition in He–Ne–Zn mixtures when the neon partial pressure exceeds 0.10 Torr is shown to be the result of a thermal-energy charge-exchange reaction involving ground-state neon atomic ions and Zn I ground-state atoms. The total velocity averaged cross section for this reaction is measured, and the relatively large value obtained (10−15 cm2) accounts for the strong sensitivity of the 4924-Å laser output to increasing neon partial pressure.