Parametric study of a high-average-power XeCl laser

摘要

Abstract: A wide-aperture, x-ray preionized discharge pumped XeCl laser is described. The laser head is included in a gas circulation loop. The x-ray generator is made of a secondary emission electron gun. The x-ray pulse duration is 400 ns (FWHM). The laser energy (E$-L$/) and the average power are given as a function of various parameters: charging voltage (V$-c$/), buffer gas pressure (P$-L$/), total capacitance (C$-T$/), the interelectrode distance (d), and the repetition rate. The laser discharge is driven by a classical LC-inversion circuit. The stored energy (E$-S$/) in the capacitor bank is C$-T$/xV$-c$/$+2$//2 and the efficiency is defined by E$-L$//E$-S$/. Up to a repetition rate of 50 Hz, the laser energy per pulse remains almost constant, with low fluctuations. The best efficiency, for different pressures, is obtained for the same V$-c$//P$-L$/xd value. The optimal buffer gas pressure decreases with an increase of the total capacitance. More than 4.5 J per pulse, single shot, have been extracted from a 40 $MUL 5.8 $MUL 4 cm$+3$/ discharge (efficiency $EQ 1%). At a lower laser energy level (2.5 J), the maximum efficiency reaches 2.5%. An average output power of 175 W has been obtained. With this device, good preliminary results on Kr/F$-2$//Ne mixture are given.!