Analysis of the copper vapor laser and development of a general laser plasma model
Abstract
Excellent qualitative and quantitative agreement between modeled and experimental results clarified the important processes involved in the copper vapor laser. These processes are: radiation trapping, stepwise excitation, cavity loss factors, and electron collisional excitation of the lower and upper laser levels. To accomplish this comparison a general model for a pulsed gas discharge laser was developed and applied to the copper vapor laser. An iterative implicit method of solution is used. All nonlinear coefficients are represented as rational functions. The lowest five levels and three higher excited levels of neutral atomic copper plus the singly ionized copper ground level were included in the model as well as the neutral and singly ionized ground states of the buffer gas. When the three higher excited levels were removed, the output laser pulse widened indicating that stepwise excitation to these additional levels plays a role in the laser kinetics. Semiclassical excitation cross sections of the Gryzinski-type were compared with impact parameter cross sections.
- Publication:
-
Ph.D. Thesis
- Pub Date:
- March 1980
- Bibcode:
- 1980PhDT........53K
- Keywords:
-
- Collision Parameters;
- Copper;
- Iterative Solution;
- Laser Plasmas;
- Metal Vapor Lasers;
- Reaction Kinetics;
- Electron Energy;
- Excitation;
- Laser Outputs;
- Plasma-Particle Interactions;
- Trapping;
- Lasers and Masers