Laser utilizing the 2+ nitrogen system with excitation powers up to 20 kW/cm3

An investigation was made of the inversion kinetics in the 2⁺N₂ system in electron-beam-excited mixtures of nitrogen and light rare gases. Fast charge exchange processes of atomic He⁺ and Ne⁺ ions with Ar in three-body collisions were discovered. Lasing was obtained at λ = 358 nm for periods of up to 0.7 μs and with an efficiency of ~ 1% in an N₂–Ar–He mixture, and an instantaneous efficiency of more than 2% was obtained for lasing duration of 250 ns in an N₂–Ar–Ne–He mixture. The results indicated that it should be possible to build an efficient pulse-periodic laser utilizing the 2⁺ nitrogen system and emitting pulses of 200–300-ns duration.