Time-Resolved Spectroscopic Study of High-Pressure Self-Sustained Discharge-Pumped Atomic

To explore the lasting kinetics of UV-preionized, self-sustained discharge-pumped atomic xenon (5d → 6p) lasers, the time-resolved spectroscopy of the laser output from the multiline laser resonator is reported. The diluents used were Ar and He. With the Ar diluent, the 1.73 μm line occupied more than 90% of the total laser output energy, which can therefore characterize the total output performance. Increasing Xe concentration shortened the 1.73 μm laser pulse duration and decreased the total (multiline) laser output energy, because increased Xe metastable state population contributes to the increase of the 6p state population (lower laser level) by electron-impact excitation and radiation trapping during discharge pumping. High-excitation-rate pumping resulted in the decrease of the laser output power of 1.73 and 2.63 μm lines. Increasing the total gas-pressure leads to the high-efficiency operation due to the modest-excitation-rate pumping at high pressures. When the Ar diluent is partially replaced by the He diluent, the spectral line distribution is also discussed in terms of the relevant kinetic process.