Relaxation of vibrations and heating of gas in periodic operation of a nitrogen pulse-laser gas discharge

For a typical pulse laser gas discharge in nitrogen without gas streaming, a time variation is obtained for the vibration temperature between two pulses according to the Treanor distribution of the vibration term populations. All the mechanisms by which vibration energy is destroyed are considered, including wall deactivation and VV and VT processes. Values are obtained for vibration temperature at the beginning of the pulse discharge and for the gas temperature difference between the tube wall and tube axis. The effect of elevated vibration and gas temperature on the power characteristics of a nitrogen pulse laser are also discussed.