Blue-violet Hgl/Hgl2 laser with wide-band optical pumping by a linearly stabilized surface discharge

A description is given of the first photodissociation laser utilizing the B–X electronic transition in mercury iodide (λ = 442, 443, 444 nm) with wide-band optical pumping of HgI₂ vapor by thermal radiation from a plasma. The pump source was a linearly stabilized surface discharge with a brightness temperature T_b≈25kK in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum. Laser pulses of 0.5J energy and 3.5μsec duration were generated.