Improvements in a gas discharge XeF (B→X) laser

Abstract

The technology of electrical discharge gas lasers has improved greatly in the last decade. High repetition rates excimer lasers with operating powers of 100-300 W are commercially available now. However results on the XeF (B→X) discharge excimer laser are scarce although e-beam pumping of this laser transition has been studied extensively. This certainly has to do with the increased probability of discharge instabilities in the NF3 or F2 doped laser gas mixtures compared to the HCl-doped gas mixtures for the competing XeCl excimer laser under the same pumping conditions. With the use of new and powerful excitation techniques these problems are addressed.