Comparison of two high-repetition-rate pulsed CO2 laser discharge geometries

Two discharge geometries are commonly used for pumping high-repetition-rate transversely excited atmosphere (TEA) lasers. One uses solid electrodes with preionization provided by downstream spark pins. The other uses a solid electrode and a screen electrode with preionization provided by an auxiliary discharge behind the screen. In this study the performance of the two systems was compared. The repetition rate at which arcing occurs was found to increase linearly with flow velocity but decrease with increasing energy density. It was also dependent on system geometry and the spark pin preionized system performed better than the auxiliary discharge preionized system. Data are given for discharges in N2, CO2, He, and a CO2 laser mixture.