Electron-beam excited 0.5-GW XeCl laser

Experimental results are presented on the characteristics of an excimer laser based on an Ar-Xe-CCl4 mixture pumped by an electron beam with a duration of about 25 ns. Emission energy was measured as a function of mixture pressure in the range 1-4 atm. At an electron current density of 110 A/sq cm the emission energy increases linearly in the entire pressure range. At a current density of 65 A/sq cm the energy dependence deviates from the linear, which is probably connected with the increase in the influence of damping collisions with decreasing pumping intensity. A densitogram of the emission spectrum is presented which shows that lasing occurs at three lines corresponding to the vibrational transitions (0-1), (0-2), and (0-3) of the B-X band. It is concluded that pumping by means of an intense electron beam is an efficient way to excite high-pressure excimer lasers.