Quantitative level population mechanism in gas discharges for pulsed argon-ion lasers

The time-resolved intensities of hundreds of spontaneous-emission lines relating to four laser levels belonging to a doublet and the time dependences of electron temperature and density were measured under 10-μs pulse excitation at high currents. The pumping and decay rates were calculated only for the doublet as a function of time. The influence of radiation trapping on the doublet is discussed. It is shown that the ratio of the cascade pumping rate to the total pumping rate of the doublet increases during the last half of a 10-μs pulse. Moreover, the relative important of the cascade transitions in the formation processes of the laser level increases some what with time.