Abstract

Discharge-excited Sr⁺ recombination lasers have received considerable recent interest due to their potential as efficient high-average-power sources in the violet. Recent experiments on a low-repetition-frequency (1–50 Hz) externally heated devices have produced single-pulse extraction energies of 6–9 μJ/cm³ in active volumes of 30–1000 cm³.¹ Operated for short periods in a burst mode, mean powers exceeding 1 W have been demonstrated at a repetition rate of 500 Hz in these same devices.² Soviet experimenters have reported average powers exceeding 1 W with a self-heated device utilizing a BeO discharge tube 50 cm long and 11 mm in diameter and He³ buffer gas pressures of 600 Torr.^3,4

© 1986 Optical Society of America