PLASMA CATHODE TEA AR LASER DEVELOPMENT

The plasma cathode design concept is applied to an Ar laser for the fi rst time. The sliding discharge is used as a plasma cathode for the ma in laser discharge. The laser operates at atmospheric pressure with a gas mixture of Ar/He/SF6. Results concerning the dependence of the las er performance on the gas mixture flow rates and charging Voltage are presented. The temporal behavior of the laser output is also presented . Output energies as high as 2 mJ, efficiency and specific energy extr action values up to 1.3 x 10(-2)% and 0.02 J/l respectively, at atmosp heric pressure, are obtained. The spectroscopic examination of the out put shows that lasing at 1.79 and 1.27 mu m is obtained with approxima tely equal line intensities. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Lt d. All rights reserved.