Highly efficient gas lasers with a three-electrode double discharge

A three-electrode electric-discharge laser was developed. The discharge was ignited by the application of a high-voltage pulse to the middle control electrode. A capacitor bank supplying the main discharge was connected directly to the two other electrodes. Excimer (XeCl, KrCl) lasers, as well as CO₂ and Ar – Xe lasers were used as examples to demonstrate that this method of excitation of the active medium reduced by tens of times the load on switches in the power supply system.