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Design and performance of a transverse discharge, UV-preionized mercury-bromide laser

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Abstract

The design, construction, and operating characteristics of a pulsed, transverse discharge-pumped HgBr laser, capable of operation at pulse repetition frequencies as high as 100 Hz, are presented. Having an active length of 53 cm, this laser system is preionized by two sets of spark arrays and average single pulse energies of 55 mJ are produced from Ne/N2/HgBr2 (natural abundance) vapor mixtures, with an output coupling of 50% and ∼ 17 J of energy stored in the pulse forming network. Based on measurements of the laser pulse energy for several values of cavity output coupling, the small signal gain coefficient and saturation intensity for the laser were determined to be 4.7% cm−1 and 260 kW cm−2, respectively. The single pass gain-to-loss ratio is 12.4.

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Author notes

  1. C.J. Zietkiewicz

    Present address: Melles-Griot, Inc., 4601 Nautilus Court South, Boulder, CO, 80301, USA

  2. C.M. Herring

    Present address: Caviton, Inc., 702 Scottswood Dr., Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Laboratory for Optical Physics and Engineering, University of Illinois, 1406 W. Green St., Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    C.J. Zietkiewicz, B.A. Knecht, C.M. Herring, N.P. Ostrom & J.G. Eden

Authors
  1. C.J. Zietkiewicz
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  2. B.A. Knecht
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  3. C.M. Herring
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  4. N.P. Ostrom
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  5. J.G. Eden
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Zietkiewicz, C., Knecht, B., Herring, C. et al. Design and performance of a transverse discharge, UV-preionized mercury-bromide laser. Optical and Quantum Electronics 34, 1031–1044 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020427418699

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