Stability of the homogeneous pumping stage in excimer discharge lasers

Experimental and theoretical results indicate that the duration of the stable homogeneous stage of the discharge during the pumping of inert-gas-halide excimer lasers is determined by the laser intensities in the resonator. In the case of the XeCl excimer laser, the rise time of the instability exceeds the HCl generation time at an intensity of only 10 MW/sq cm; most of the energy is therefore completely removed.