Formation of self-sustained CO2 laser pump discharge with a voltage below the statistical breakdown value

An investigation was made of the characteristic features of a self-sustained volume discharge used for pumping CO₂ lasers at a voltage below the statistical breakdown voltage of a gas mixture in the discharge chamber. The photoemission of electrons from the cathode played an important role in forming the discharge. When a magnesium cathode was employed the specific energy fed into the discharge reached ~ 250 J · liter ^– 1 · atm ^– 1 in gas mixtures containing 30–50% of molecular gases, the specific output energy was ~ 8–10 J/liter, and the laser efficiency was ~ 8–9%.