Stimulated emission of pulses up to 200 μsec duration in the red due to 3p–3s neon transitions

Stimulated emission of 200-μsec pulses was achieved in the red due to the 3p[1/2]₁–3s[3/2]₁ (λ = 724.5 nm) and 3p[1/2]₁–3s[3/2]₂ (λ = 703.2 nm) transitions in a neon atom when an He–Ne–Kr mixture was excited by an electron beam. The resonator and the mixture composition were optimized. The maximum efficiency was ~0.3% for λ = 724.5 nm. The gain was ~3×10^–3 cm^–1 at both wavelengths and the distributed loss factor was ~2×10^–4 cm^–1 for λ = 724.5 nm and 9×10^–4 cm^–1 for λ = 703.2 nm.