Multi-channel Surface Discharge Optical Pump Source Experimental Research

The multichannel surface discharge applied for optical pumping XeF(C-A) laser has the advantages of high energy deposited efficiency , capability for large area uniform discharge , large active volume ,and uniform gain. The characteristics of pumping source are studied by developing a multichannel surface discharge model in this paper.The design of the pumping source with multichannel surface discharge is introduced, and the trigger principle is analyzed theoretically. The system of parameter diagnostic and measurement has been set up. The discharge synchronism and uniformity of pumping source have been studied experimentally in two methods. The result of jitter time smaller than 40ns is obtained. By studying different kinds of factors which affected the synchronization, the suitable experimental conditions for the operation of the pumping source have been obtained, and these conditions may be thought as the voltage of higher than 15kV, the pressure of 1-1.5 atm in the case of N2:Ar=3:7, the trigger voltage of higher than 30kV with the risetime about 10ns. The discharge parameters of the pumping source as a function of different experimental conditions have been studied. The principle of photodissociation Xe?2 and the form of photodissociation wave (PDW) and the mechanism of XeF(C-A) laser have been described . The PDW photographs have been acquired under different deposited power in each channel. The velocity of PDW and the plasma brightness temperature have been calculated, and the radiation level in VUV has been estimated.