Recombination gas-discharge lasers utilizing transitions in multiply charged O III and Xe IV ions

An analysis was made of the conditions required to achieve high-intensity recombination pumping of levels of multiply charged ions in a longitudinal pulsed gas discharge. It was found that elastic collisions with light buffer gas atoms and ions combined with ambipolar diffusion result in fairly rapid (within 0. 1–1.0 μs) cooling of the electrons in the discharge afterglow at low (up to 1 Torr) buffer gas pressures and for small ( ~ 0.3 cm) tube diameters. Lasing was obtained for the first time by recombination pumping utilizing the λ = 375.5, 376.0, and 559.2 nm O III transitions and the λ = 335.0, 430.6, 495.4, 500.8, 515.9, 526.0, 535.3, 539.5, and 595.6 nm Xe IV transitions. This was achieved in a mixture of ~ 10 ^– 2 Torr O₂ or Xe with He, H₂, or Ne (0.1–0.3 Torr) in a tube 3-mm in diameter and 50-cm long.