CHARACTERISTICS OF A LARGE-BORE COPPER-VAPOR LASER WITH GAS-COOLING PLATES

It has been experimentally found that the insertion of plates into the plasma tube has improved the output characteristics of an 80-mm coppe r vapor laser. It has been revealed that the buffer gas temperature de creases and the metastable-state (the lower laser level) density of co pper atoms decreases near the center axis of the plasma tube. Moreover , electric power is transferred into plasma more efficiently because o f the increase in plasma impedance. As a result, the average output po wer is increased by 57 % and the beam intensity profile has become uni form.