Electron-beam-pumped XeF(C->A) laser energy scaling

Leonard N. Litzenberger; M. James Smith; Albert L. Pardue Jr.; R. William Jones; David Stone

doi:10.1117/12.206946

17 April 1995 Electron-beam-pumped XeF(C->A) laser energy scaling

Leonard N. Litzenberger, M. James Smith, Albert L. Pardue Jr., R. William Jones, David Stone

Proceedings Volume 2380, UV and Visible Lasers and Laser Crystal Growth; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.206946
Event: Photonics West '95, 1995, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

The pulse output energy of the electron-beam pumped XeF(C->A) laser system has been increased by nearly two orders of magnitude relative to previously demonstrated values, to 170 J. This performance was achieved in an existing laser device, referred to as Scale-Up, which is pumped by a pair of three meter long, counterpropagating electron beams. The device was equipped with subaperture mirrors which were coated to be reflective in the blue-green portion of the visible spectrum. The reflectivity of the output coupler of the folded stable cavity was carefully selected to maximize the laser output energy. This choice involved a trade-off between the amount of time required for the intracavity flux to build up from noise to the saturation level, and the energy extraction efficiency under steady state oscillating conditions. The observed optical pulse duration of 0.8 microsecond(s) was in good agreement with the prediction of a flux buildup model which was developed during the design phase of this effort. The demonstrated specific output energy of 1.7 J/L was comparable to that previously achieved in small scale lasing tests which were also performed under free-running conditions. This proved that the XeF(C->A) laser system is volumetrically scalable to high output energy per pulse. No evidence of laser oscillation on the competing XeF(B->X) transition was observed. The pulse-average electron-beam pump rate was 140 kW/cm³, and the electron-beam pulse duration was 1.7 microsecond(s) . The ability to operate this low gain laser system at a moderate pump rate greatly relaxes the constraints on the design of the electron gun and pulse power subsystems, making construction of a high average power laser device possible.

Citation Download Citation

Leonard N. Litzenberger, M. James Smith, Albert L. Pardue Jr., R. William Jones, and David Stone "Electron-beam-pumped XeF(C->A) laser energy scaling", Proc. SPIE 2380, UV and Visible Lasers and Laser Crystal Growth, (17 April 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.206946

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KEYWORDS

Gas lasers

Reflectivity

Mirrors

Output couplers

Laser energy

Pulsed laser operation

Laser systems engineering

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