Kinetics of processes and energy distribution in an electric discharge upon pumping a XeCl laser

Radiation energies and efficiencies of the XeCl laser are calculated for different pump regimes in a broad range of variations in the initial parameters [pump energy of 50 — 350 J L^-1, pulse duration of 30 — 150 ns, initial concentration of HCl molecules of (0.7 — 2.5) × 10¹⁷ cm^-3]. The sequence of kinetic processes during which the pump energy is converted into induced radiation and heat is determined. It is shown that when 80% — 90% of the initial HCl concentration is used per pulse, the optimal ratio between the radiation energy and the laser efficiency is provided. In these regimes, about 50% of the pump energy is spent on production of excimer molecules in the entire range of the experimental parameters and for one HCl molecule 10 ± 1.5 eV is spent.