Efficient XeF(C→A) laser excited by a coaxial electron beam at intermediate pumping rates

Experiments carried out with an electron-beam apparatus that produced pump pulses with an intermediate pulse length of about 174 ns (FWHM) and a power-deposition rate on the order of 1 MW/cm³ are described. The authors present initial measurements with gas mixtures in which part of the Ar is replaced by Ne as a buffer gas. The lower stopping power of Ne can be compensated for by using a higher gas pressure because the system presented can be pressurized to a total gas pressure of 10 bar. It was found in earlier experiments with other excimers (ArF,KrF) that the variation of the buffer gas may have important effects on the optimum pressure regime total output energy, and kinetics. Useful information can be gained for discharge-excited systems, although the ionic channel dominates the electron-beam excitation kinetics