Small-size discrete-capacitor N2 laser

Abstract

This letter describes a small N₂ laser using discrete capacitors in a Blumlein‐type circuit with a 15‐cm‐long discharge length which yields 170‐kW peak power in a 5.5‐nsec pulse at 17‐kV charging voltage. The high‐power conversion efficiency of 0.065% attained is attributed to the low inductance of the circuit and the use of an external optical cavity.