A high-voltage hollow-cathode Au-II 282-nm laser

Author

Peard, K.A. ; Tobin, R.C. ; Rózsa, K. ; Donkó, Z.

Volume

30

Issue

5

fYear

1994

fDate

5/1/1994 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1181

Lastpage

1186

Abstract

Laser operation on the Au-II 282.3-nm line is obtained from a high-voltage, segmented hollow-cathode discharge tube with external mirrors. Measurements of the laser output power and the small-signal gain demonstrate that, for a given total discharge current, the optimum performance of the laser is obtained for a discharge length for which the linear current density is approximately 65 mA cm^-1. The gain is approximately 2546 m^-1 at this current density and increases with current density up to the highest value used (250 mA cm ^-1), at which the gain exceeds 50% m^-1. The threshold current decreases monotonically, with decreasing length, the lowest observed value being 6.28 A for a length of 5 cm. A quasi-CW output power of 20 mW is obtained for a gain length of 20 cm and a discharge current of 3.2 A in a partially optimized tube with unoptimized output coupling

Keywords

glow discharges; gold; ion lasers; laser accessories; laser transitions; mirrors; 0.28 A; 20 cm; 20 mW; 282-nm laser; 282.3 nm; 3.2 A; 5 cm; Au; Au-II; decreasing length; discharge current; discharge length; external mirrors; gain length; high-voltage; hollow-cathode; laser operation; laser output power; linear current density; optimum performance; partially optimized tube; quasi-CW output power; segmented hollow-cathode discharge tube; small-signal gain; threshold current; total discharge current; unoptimized output coupling; Current density; Current measurement; Density measurement; Electron tubes; Gain measurement; Length measurement; Mirrors; Power generation; Power lasers; Power measurement;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.303678

Filename

303678