Time dependence of the electron density in a copper vapor laser

The time dependence of the electron density was determined for a copper vapor laser emitting pulses at a frequency of 7.2 kHz. The value of the density n_e during a current pulse was calculated from the measured resistance of the discharge gap. Between the current pulses, the density was measured with a laser interferometer. A comparison was made of the ionization frequency of an Ne–Cu mixture with the ionization frequency of pure neon.