Theoretical modeling of the discharge-pumped XeCl excimer laser

A theoretical study is presented of the discharge pumped XeCl excimer laser. Two modelings which supplement each other from different angles have been successfully developed. The first one, a comprehensive kinetics model which can be applied to the detailed simulations of the temporal behavior of the discharge characteristics and laser performance, is constructed by a set of coupled first order differential equations, such as the rate equations, the Boltzmann equation, the external electric circuit equations, the energy balance equation, and the equations of optical resonator. The starting and termination of the discharge are taken into deliberation for the first time, especially for the Blumlein case. Some 70 kinetic processes and 23 chemical species are included. Another model, on the other hand, pays attention to the quasi steady state to facilitate parametric study. A group of rate coefficients for the kinetic processes involving free electrons are approximated by analytic expressions using numerical results compiled from computer code calculations.