Wide-aperture source of x-ray radiation for preionization of the large-volume electric-discharge lasers

A high-voltage diffuse discharge at atmospheric pressure in a system formed by a row of thin wires and a planar grid was found to be a highly efficient source of x-ray radiation. The aperture of this source was 40 X 200 cm and the dose delivered to the active medium of an electric-discharge CO₂ laser with the volume up to 0.28 m³ was in excess of 60–300 R.