Influence of electrode processes on the constriction of a volume discharge in pulse-periodic lasers

An investigation was made of the influence of perturbations near the electrodes on the constriction of a volume discharge under conditions typical of pulse-periodic lasers. The perturbations were modeled using XeCl laser radiation focused on the cathode. The amounts of the metal vapor evaporated from the electrode by a laser pulse and by a high-current constricted discharge were of a similar order of magnitude. It was established that, in pulse-periodic excimer lasers, a metal vapor in the region where a high-current channel is attached to an electrode can increase the inhomogeneity of the discharge even at repetition frequencies of 10²–10³ Hz.