Decay of metastable states and its influence on the lasing characteristics of a copper vapor laser

Comprehensive investigations of the lasing characteristics in the double-pulse regime, of the characteristics of excitation pulses, and of the decay of metastable active levels during the discharge afterglow were made using a copper vapor laser with a 12-mm diameter 40-cm long discharge tube and operating in the self-heating regime. It was found that under conditions close to efficient lasing, the recovery of the lasing ability during the second pulse was mainly determined by the decay of the metastable levels.