Characteristics of an XeF (C–A) laser emitting visible light as a result of optical pumping by surface-discharge radiation

An investigation was made of an XeF laser (λ≈490 nm) with a 100 mm aperture and an active medium over 1 m long. An active mixture was formed by the flow of Ar, N₂, and Kr buffer gases transmitted by polycrystalline XeF₂. The use of a plane-plane resonator increased considerably the efficiency of utilization of the active volume. Measurements were made of the gain of the active medium for two configurations of the optical pump source at different XeF₂ pressures. The dependences of the output energy on the resonator mirror transmission and on the XeF₂ concentration were determined experimentally. An increase in the active length of the laser to 1.5 m and the use of a two-channel pump source increased the average (over the laser volume) specific output energy to 5 J/liter. A mixture of the XeF₂:N₂:Kr = 1:100:300 composition at a pressure P = 1.1 atm provided a record (for excimer lasers emitting in the visible range) energy of E_l = 45 J per pulse.