Comparative investigation of the frequency-energy characteristics of Ca+, Eu, and Sr+ lasers excited by gas discharges and electron beams

The method of double excitation pulses was employed in a comparative investigation of the frequency-energy characteristics of Ca⁺, Eu, and Sr⁺ lasers. The investigation was carried out under the conditions such that the first excitation pulse was due to a discharge and the second was either a discharge or an electron beam pulse. In the case of electron-beam excitation the lasing began after a much shorter delay of the second pulse relative to the first. It was concluded that the improvement in the lasing parameters in the electron-beam excitation case was due to the lifting of restrictions associated with the prepulse electron density.