Operation of TEA CO2 lasers with rough surface electrodes

The note reports results of a series of experiments conducted to determine the influence of roughened electrode surfaces on the uniformity and stability of a glow discharge in a TEA CO2 laser. In these experiments, the performance of two lasers with polished electrodes was measured, the electrodes were then sandblasted to produce homogeneously rough surfaces, and the measurements were repeated. It is found that the sandblasting caused an observable improvement in the uniformity and stability of the discharge, a reduction of about 10% in the optimal discharge voltage, an improvement in the reproducibility of output pulses, a reduction in the number of false discharges, and a slight improvement in pulse power peaks and energy.