Study of the electrical parameters of the active element of a He-Ne laser

Some electrical parameters of discharge in He, Ne, and a He-Ne mixture were studied with respect to current discharge modulation. A gas laser is represented by an equivalent circuit, and the method of measuring the resonance characteristics of active elements is described. The equivalent volume and the inductivity of the discharge are determined by measuring the active element characteristics invoked by the parallel addition to the standard volume of a known magnitude from a discharge tube. The relations between the equivalent volume and the inductivity of the discharge for pressures of 0.5-3.0 mm Hg in He, Ne, and He-Ne mixture are obtained. Impurities in the active elements influence the width of the resonance characteristics.