Fast-discharge-initiated XeF laser

Abstract

By means of fast‐discharge circuitry, intense laser emission was observed from the XeF molecule at 351, 353, and 349 nm in a gas mixture of He, Xe, and NF₃. The over‐all electrical efficiency based on the energy deposited in the gas was 1.2%; the ’’wall‐plug’’ efficiency was 0.2%. An output energy of 1 mJ was measured from a laser pulse 40 nsec in duration, yielding a peak power of 25 kW. A simple model is proposed to estimate the laser performance.