Investigation of the gain in a pulsed transverse CO2–N2–He discharge preionized by wire electrodes

An experimental investigation was made of the gain of a lasing medium based on CO₂ in a pulsed transverse discharge preionized by auxiliary wire electrodes as a function of the active mixture pressure and composition, and the energy supplied to the discharge. A model was developed for the kinetic processes in the active medium, based on kinetic equations which allow accurately (within the harmonic approximation) for energy exchange between the CO₂ modes. A comparison of the results of calculations, made using this model and the most reliable data on the vibrational relaxation constants, revealed satisfactory agreement between theory and experiment.