FORMATION OF ELECTRON-BEAMS FOR PUMPING A WIDE-APERTURE EXCIMER-LASERGARPUN

A description is presented of an excimer laser module ''GARPUN'' inten ded to operate as a high-power source of UV radiation or as a wide-ape rture amplifier of ultrashort laser pulses. The basic parameters of el ectron-beam pumping of the laser are given and the production of high- current electron beams with large cross-sectional area and uniform cur rent distribution is considered. The analysis of losses occurring in t he system of pulsed high-voltage supply for accelerators and also duri ng the electron beam formation and coupling into the laser chamber, sh ows that the achieved efficiency approximately 16% can be raised by a factor of 1.5 or 2.