High Power Fast Pulse Lasers.

Nitrogen ion, atomic fluorine and XeF lasers have been operated in an oscillator-amplifier configuration. Two synchronously excited plasma were produced by preionized discharges in atmospheric electrical avalanche devices switched by hydrogen thyratrons. The chosen transition of each system from the tube serving as an oscillator was optically delayed and then was threaded through the second discharge. Calibrated attentuation of this beam injected into the amplifier provided data on the overall amplification ratio. From these data effective saturation intensities and small signal gains were found for the three systems mentioned. Based upon these results for the gain and saturation parameters, a self-excited XeF oscillator was designed to be optimized simultaneously for energy density, power density and efficiency. Ten nanosecond pulses of 270 MW/liter with a relative storage efficiency of 1.6% were produced. These are record levels of performance. A fast discharge (low inductance) system with a refined cell and gas handling unit were developed. This system provided encouraging results concerning the kinetic measurements of He-N(,2) mixtures. This opens up new ground for the exploration of high pressure gas kinetics.