OPTIMIZATION OF PLASMAS FOR RECOMBINATION-PUMPED SHORT-WAVELENGTH LASERS

We report on experiments investigating the optimization of laser-ablat ed plasmas which are used to produce recombination-pumped, short-wavel ength lasers. We evaluate the density of electrons and neutral atoms i n laser ablated lithium and carbon plasmas as a function of time and d istance away from the ablated target surface. We use an interferometri c technique which can reveal information about the temperature of the plasma electrons. We find that the cold electrons which result in gain in recombination-pumped lithium lasers on the Lyman-cr transition are produced by the high-intensity pump pulse rather than the lower inten sity ablating pulse.