PUMPING OF A COAXIAL NITROGEN LASER BY A HIGH-SPEED IONIZATION WAVE

An experimental demonstration was made of the effectiveness of an elec tric discharge, in the form of a high-velocity ionisation wave, in pum ping a coaxial nitrogen laser operating at pressures of 5-120 Torr. Th e specific input energy delivered by this nitrogen-exciting wave was u p to 2.1 J/cm(2) in a time of the order of 10 ns. Lasing action was ob served at the wavelength 337.1 nm under superradiance conditions. The peak power of an output radiation pulse reached 100 kW and the half-ma ximum duration was 10 ns. The range of the nitrogen pressures with max imal energy deposition in the gas coincided with the range of the mini mal attenuation of the ionisation wave amplitude moving along the disc harge gap. The input energy, the velocity and attenuation of the high- speed ionisation wave, and the laser radiation intensity were determin ed as a function of the nitrogen pressure.