KINETICALLY ENHANCED COPPER-VAPOR LASERS EMPLOYING H-2-HCL-NE BUFFER GAS-MIXTURES

The output powers from 25 mm (volume 0.49 1) and 40 mm(volume 1.9 1) d iameter copper vapour lasers (nominally 20 and 55 W devices) are appro ximately doubled to > 50 and > 100 W respectively by adding small part ial pressures of both H-2 and HCl to the neon buffer gas. Our studies show that this gas mixture performs better than a H-2-HBr admix, a res ult we attribute to more efficient reassociation of HCl in the plasma region. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.