Development of a Quantitative Model for High Power Pulsed Lasers.

The characterization of the He-N2 laser as one representative member of the class of high pressure lasers was considered in three main parts: (1) the electron beam which provides the initial excitation, (2) the chemistry of the excited gas, and (3) the radiation field due to lasing. Calculations of the number of ion pairs produced in the gas by a beam of energetic electrons passing through the gas were performed. The results were applicable to all such problems provided certain restrictions of gas pressure and beam current were not exceeded. The description of the radiation field and its build-up was general enough to describe the radiation fields in any laser.