Use of low-power ionizers in the excitation of the active media of excimer lasers

The characteristics of XeF and XeCl lasers stabilized by an external low-power ionizer were considered. Two laser operating regimes were investigated, one with a buildup of negative ions and the other with a discharge stabilized by an external low-power ionizer. The temporal, spectral, and energy characteristics of these lasers were investigated. The minimum ion concentration in the negative-ion buildup regime was found to be [F^–]=10¹¹cm^–3 and [Cl^–]=10¹²cm^–3, while the use of a discharge stabilized by a low-density electron beam made it possible to reduce the current density of the electron beam to ~0.1mA/cm² in the case of the XeCl laser. A value of 10 J/liter was achieved for the maximum specific output energy of the XeCl laser.