Kinetics of the active medium of a multiwave IR xenon laser in hard-ioniser-pumped mixtures with He and Ar. I. Electron-beam pumping

• Published in: Quantum electronics (Woodbury, N.Y.) N.Y.), 1999-08, Vol.29 (8), p.678-686, Article 678
• Main Authors: Karelin, A V, Simakova, O V
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; ARGON; ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS; CHARGED PARTICLES; ELECTRICAL PUMPING; ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION; ELECTRON BEAM PUMPING; ELEMENTS; ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS; EXCITATION; FLUIDS; GAS LASERS; GASES; HELIUM; INFRARED RADIATION; IONS; KINETICS; LASERS; NONMETALS; PUMPING; RADIATIONS; RARE GASES; RECOMBINATION; SIMULATION; XENON IONS
• ISSN: 1063-7818; 1468-4799
• DOI: 10.1070/QE1999v029n08ABEH001552

A description is given of a detailed nonsteady-state multiwave kinetic model of a laser, based on xenon atom transitions with {lambda} = 1.73, 7.03, 2.65, 2.63, 3.37, and 3.51 {mu}m in an He - Ar - Xe mixture pumped by a hard ioniser. The proposed kinetic model is tested against the results of experiments on electron-beam pumping of an Xe laser containing pure xenon, as well as binary and ternary mixtures. Numerical modelling is used to identify the main mechanisms pumping the upper active levels: three-particle recombination of atomic Xe{sup +} ions (He - Xe mixture), dissociative recombination of molecular Xe{sub 2}{sup +} ions (pure Xe), dissociative recombination of molecular ArXe{sup +} ions and electron excitation from the 6s' xenon atom states in an (He) - Ar - Xe mixture. It is shown that the contribution of each of the mechanisms to pumping of the upper active level is determined by the composition and pressure of the mixture. (active media)