Frequency and energy characteristics of a Cu – Ne laser at different durations of the leading edge of the excitation pulse

Abstract

Abstract The lasing characteristics of a copper vapour laser in a tube with forced heating, having a length of 50 cm and a diameter of 2 cm, excited by a train of pulses are investigated. Comparative studies of the frequency and energy characteristics of the laser are performed with a leading edge duration of the excitation pulse of ∼25 ns (when the capacitance discharges through a thyratron and a magnetic compression line) and ∼3 and 1 ns (using circuits with a high-speed switch – kivotron). It is shown that a decrease in the leading edge duration gives rise to an increase in the optimal pulse repetition rate up to ∼30 kHz, the generation efficiency up to 3.2 % and the generation power per unit length over 100 W m−1. The results obtained confirm the concept of limiting the frequency and energy characteristics of a copper vapour laser due to the insufficient rate of energy input into the plasma at high prepulse electron concentrations.