Studies of an 80-J KrF oscillator at excitation rates of 2–7 MW/cm3

Abstract

We have examined the performance of a 2‐liter KrF oscillator pumped by a high‐intensity electron beam. For input pump rates of 7 MW/cm³, up to 80 J of laser energy is extracted from the cavity in 50 ns with an efficiency (laser energy divided by deposited electron‐beam energy) of 11%. Values of the small‐signal‐gain length product g₀L, the absorption length product αL, and the saturation intensity I_s were determined to be 6–16, 0.3–0.6, and 1–10 MW/cm², respectively.