XeF laser performance studies
Abstract
The performance level and some other characteristics of a XeF laser fueled by either F2 or NF3 were investigated using a 1-m beam device described by Mandl and Hyman (1986). It was found that laser performance for NF3-fueled mixtures declined steadily under repetitively pulsed conditions, but that the F2-based laser mixture was recyclable, with no loss in laser output. Under properly optimized conditions, the XeF intrinsic efficiency was essentially the same for both F2 and NF3 fuels for deposited energy loadings up to at least 150 J/l. At 300 K, more than 95 percent of the laser output was in the 353-nm band, but the gain contribution of the 351-nm band increased with temperature until, at 425 K, the two bands were approximately equal, doubling the laser output. The gain increased markedly with the pump rate, whereas the absorption remained approximately constant. With the marked increase in the pump-rate-dependent gain, there was a significant increase in laser efficiency.
- Publication:
-
Lasers 1985; Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference
- Pub Date:
- 1986
- Bibcode:
- 1986lase.conf..557M
- Keywords:
-
- Laser Outputs;
- Performance Tests;
- Pulsed Lasers;
- Temperature Dependence;
- Xenon Fluoride Lasers;
- Current Density;
- Laser Induced Fluorescence;
- Optical Measurement;
- Spatial Distribution;
- Lasers and Masers