Investigation of processes limiting the pulse repetition frequency in a manganese vapor laser

Measurements were made of the relaxation rates of the electron density and metastable atom concentrations during the afterglow of a pulsed discharge. Under the same experimental conditions, the double-pulse method was used to investigate the lasing parameters in the visible and infrared spectral regions. It was found that the reduction of the lasing energy in the second pulse was mainly determined by the residual population of the lower active level. The difference between the energetics of the visible and infrared transitions was attributed to characteristic features of the system of lasing transitions in the manganese atom. It was established that interpulse currents flowing through the discharge gap did not influence the lasing characteristics.