Large Scale Discharge -Pumped Excimer Laser Research At NRL

Spatial discharge narrowing in wide-aperture discharge pumped lasers

“…Unfortunately, the enhancement of the electric field near the edge of the high-voltage electrode increases the possibility of the development of surface discharge on the side wall. To solve this problem anti-tracking bars [9] are attached to the middle of the inner side walls.…”

“…The design of the electrode shape and the laser head including the ground return was pursued semiempirically in the case of wide gap discharges ( d > 5 cm) [9]. The optimum head design is a trade-off between two major limitations: the increased head inductance L due to larger cross section and the higher probability of surface discharge on the side wall due to higher operational voltage [IO].…”

“…water), it can even result in reduced inductance for the electric circuit of the laser head. A symmetric arrangement, using two pulse-forming lines has already been suggested [9,15], where the main goal was to avoid surface discharge along the side walls. By the use of this symmetric arrangement an excellent homogeneous electric field line distribution can be obtained for a modified Chang electrode profile (as seen from figure 6).…”