An efficient and compact discharge-excited XeCl laser

Abstract

The operational characteristics of a discharge-excited XeCl laser utilising a discrete element pulse-forming network (PFN) are reported. A pulse output energy of 0.6 J, an efficiency of approximately 2% and an energy extraction of 4.5 J litre-1 were recorded at a relatively low charging voltage. With neon buffer gas, pulses of 80 ns (FWHM) were measured.