Green-emitting mercury chloride laser pumped by wide-band optical radiation

A description is given of the first photodissociation laser utilizing the B–X electronic transition in mercury chloride (λ=558, 559 nm). Wide-band optical radiation (representing thermal radiation of a plasma) was used to pump HgCl₂ vapor. The energy of the laser output pulses reached 2.1J and the duration was 7.6μsec. The laser efficiency, relative to the stored energy, was 0.1%.