Interpulse kinetics in copper and copper halide lasers

The various rate processes that govern the interpulse relaxation in metal vapor and metal halide vapor lasers are considered. Computer calculations indicate that the rapid metastable levels relaxation observed in copper and copper halide laser experiments requires the existence of a relatively small resonance in the cross section for metastable excitation or deexcitation near threshold. The accurate calculation of interpulse relaxation requires knowledge of rate constants presently not well known; this is especially so for metal halide lasers.