An extremely weak uv source conditions a large CO2 laser gas discharge with the aid of the seed gas tri-n-propylamine. With roughened Rogowski-shaped electrodes a glow discharge is achieved without a uv source. Evidence exists that the seed gas plays a role in the gas discharge itself.
A quantitative model is presented which predicts the behavior of the discharge of a CO2 laser gas mixture with a low-ionization seed gas. The basis of the developed model is the assumption of the so-called Penning ionzation mechanism in which metastable nitrogen molecules ionize the seed gas. The developed model will be compared with measurements on an appropriate CO2 laser device. As a result of this study, we describe the successful operation of a simple large-aperture amplifier with a diameter of 12 cm.
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