Operation of large-diameter pulse-discharge lamps emitting short pulses

An analysis was made of the load characteristics of pulse-discharge lamps of 1.6 mm diameter producing flashes of 10^–6–10^–3 sec duration. It was found that the nominal flash energy of commercially available lamps could be increased considerably by altering the filling. This made it possible to increase the pump radiation power by a factor of 3–5 and to raise correspondingly the laser output power shortening at the same time the pulse duration to (1–2)X10^–4 sec. Equations are given for estimating the maximum loads of lamps under "hard" operation conditions.