Radial inhomogeneities of the active medium plasma parameters in a self-heated copper vapor laser during the interpulse period

An investigation was made of the radial profiles and temporal relaxation of metastable copper atoms during the interpulse period in a self-heated copper vapor laser. The copper atom concentration in the ground state and the electron temperature, together with their radial profiles and time dependences, were determined from the experimental data. In a copper vapor laser with a 2-cm gas discharge-tube diameter the conditions were sometimes characterized by the presence of a radial electron temperature gradient and also a steady-state distribution of the copper atoms differing from the equilibrium distribution by a deficiency of copper atoms on the axis which arose due to an insufficiently high rate of diffusion of the copper atoms to the central zone from the periphery.