Feasibility of constructing a cw copper vapour-flow laser

The feasibility of cw lasing as a result of transitions from a resonant to a metastable level in the copper atom is demonstrated for the first time. A theoretical model is proposed for the description of relaxation of a plasma formed in a plasma accelerator. It is shown that at small distances from the accelerate edge the laser radiation power density can be ~5 W cm^-2.