Efficient and compact discharge XeCl laser with automatic UV preionization

摘要

Considerable improvements in overall efficiency of a compact UV‐preionized discharge XeCl laser have been achieved by possible operation at relatively low charging voltages V for high pressure P HCl/Xe/Ne mixtures. A peak overall efficiency of 2.9% has been obtained with the output energy of 280 mJ at V=18 kV and P=4 atm. A maximum output energy of 680 mJ has been extracted with the overall efficiency of 1.8% in 20‐ns (FWHM) pulses at P=6 atm and V=36 kV, corresponding to an energy density of 5.8 J/1. The efficient performance and simple design of the discharge XeCl laser with automatic preionization are described.