Subnanosecond ultraviolet nitrogen TEA laser

A description is given of the construction and operation of an ultraviolet nitrogen TEA laser (λ = 337.1 nm) excited by a travelling discharge wave. The dependences of the stimulated emission parameters on the voltage and the interelectrode gap are reported. The optimal conditions for the emission of stimulated radiation at atmospheric pressure of nitrogen were obtained for E/p = 0.76—0.79 V cm^-1 Pa^-1 and an interelectrode gap of 2.9 nm when the discharge formation time was matched to the lifetime of the upper active level. Output pulses with a power in excess of 300 kW and of 1 ns duration were generated under the optimal conditions. When operating in atmospheric air the optimal conditions were an interelectrode gap of 2.1 mm and E/p = 0.90—0.94 V cm^-1 Pa^-1; in this case the output power of the pulses was 100 kW and their duration was 0.5 ns. A simple model of such a laser was used to account for the experimentally observed dependences and to calculate the optimal laser parameters.