Influence of hydrogen on the optical and discharge properties of CuBr laser

Impressive improvements in the quality of laser beam and the electric discharge properties of CuBr laser are reported lately as results of our continuing research on the hydrogen effect in copper halide-based lasers. Laser output power, P-out greater than or equal to 10W and beam divergence, theta less than or equal to 90murad are available from a single-unit medium-scale (2cm-bore x 50cm) medium-power (10-20W) CuBr laser fitted with a positive-branch unstable resonator of medium (M=73-100) magnification. Laser spatial intensity, P-out/theta(2) increases 5 times compared with the case of no hydrogen added (1390W.mrad(-2) and 280W.mrad(-2), respectively). Electrical field potential measurements in Ne-H-2 mixtures show that in comparison with the pure-Ne-gas case, the near-electrode E-fields are nearly of a factor of 2 lower whereas the far-from-electrode E-field is almost of a factor of 6 higher as the pressure of H-2 additive reaches 0.37 Torr. Energy dissipation in the CuBr laser electrodes has been studied in a typical gaseous environment and with discharge length scaling. The power lost in the electrodes significantly increases not only with a decrease in electrode separation but also more compounds are added to the medium. The total energy dissipated in both electrodes varies between 10% and 30% of the storage capacitor energy.