Influence of the thermal conditions in a copper vapor laser on the output power

A study was made of the thermal conditions in a self-heated copper vapor laser with a longitudinal discharge. Quantitative data on the influence of the temperatures of the gas and of the copper evaporators, and also of the buffer gas (neon) pressure on the output power were obtained for typical operating conditions. One of the factors facilitating efficient lasing in a wide range of neon pressures was thermal insulation of the discharge channel, the efficiency of which varied only slightly with the neon pressure.