On the simulation of a copper vapour laser with hydrogen admixtures

The results of computer simulation of a pulsed copper vapour laser with hydrogen admixtures presented in [1–4] are discussed. It is pointed out that the simulation technique used in these papers has a number of serious drawbacks. In particular, it is shown that the prepulse electron temperature obtained with its help is much lower than the temperature of the wall of the gas-discharge tube, which is in direct contradiction with the thermodynamics. Possible reasons for the erroneous results obtained in these works are discussed.