Abstract
This letter reports the results of an analysis of basic kinetic and plasma processes in fast‐pulse (∼100 nsec) electric discharges containing mixtures of the mercuric‐bromide molecule, HgBr2, and N2 in a Ne background. Formation of the laser molecule HgBr (B2Σ+) is shown to occur as a result of dissociative excitation transfer following quenching of N2 (A3Σ+u ) by HgBr2.