Investigation on magnetic pulse compressor used for copper halide laser

Abstract

In copper halide lasers, the excitation of copper atoms is produced through the discharge of a storage capacitor. Performances of it were essentially linked to the type of switch used and also to its mode of operation. Thyratrons are the most common switches. Nevertheless, their technological limitations do not allow a high repetition rate and high rate of rise of current. But these limitations can be surpassed by combining the thyratron to magnetic pulse compression (MPC). The MPC driver can improve the laser excitation pulse rise time and increase the repetition rate. A single stage MPC system for CuBr laser has been developed in this paper. With this MPC, the power of laser output was increased more than 20%. The mechanism of MPC performance was analyzed. The design advisements and parameter choices of MPC were presented particularly.