An intense excitation source for high power (Blue-green) laser

A high power blue-green dye laser has been pumped with an array of hypocyloidal-pinch (HCP) plasmas. The HCP pump source was energized by up to 4.2kJ energy stored in the capacitor bank. High pressure optical conversion. The maximum argon pressure used was 100 Torr with the optimum at 20 Torr. The rise time (approx. 1 micron) of pumping light is kept short by using a small (6 micron F) capacitance. The laser output power and energy dependence of the input electrical energy, the type of gas, the filling pressure and the laser cavity parameters were studied with respect to the characteristics of the pumping light. The plasma temperature 7,250 K was obtained when the HCP was operated for the optimum laser output. The spectral efficiency of the absorbed radiation at this temperature was 22% or 83% of the maximum efficiency of the optimum blackbody source. The author concluded that the HCP source has UV-rich spectrum, which can be varied to match the most efficient spectrum for laser pumping, and very high input capability. Thus it is suitable for repetitive and high average power laser systems.