Effective glow discharge excitation of nitrogen lasers at gas pressures ranging from 0 to 5 bar

Abstract

This paper applies a novel stabilization technique to the effective glow discharge excitation of uv nitrogen lasers at gas pressures ranging from 0 to 5 bar. The plasma is produced between uniform field electrodes and can be stabilized at electrode separations of down to 1 mm. The stabilization is relatively insensitive to the electrode geometry and surface finish. Megawatt pulses were obtained from a 25‐cm atmospheric‐pressure device energized by a simple flat‐plate Blumlein circuit.