Excitation of CO2 TEA lasers with self-sustained discharges

The problems of optimization, from the point of view of the output energy, of the total pressure and composition of gas mixtures in CO₂ TEA lasers with self-sustained discharges is discussed. The published results are used to show that the ratio of the electric field strength in the discharge to the density of the neutral gas E/n is a function only of the fraction of He in the gas mixture. Typical values of the average electron energy at 1.5 eV for the usual (CO₂:N₂:He) mixture and 1.8 eV for CO₂:He. The excitation efficiency of the vibrational levels of CO₂ and N₂ is practically independent of the fraction of He in the mixture provided it does not exceed 95%. The results are given of measurements of the output energy of CO₂ lasers with conventional and double discharges and the question of the efficiency of the transfer of energy from the storage capacitors to the discharge is considered.