Continuous uniform excitation of medium-pressure CO2 laser plasmas by means of controlled avalanche ionization

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Abstract
A sequence of 50‐ to 75‐nsec high‐voltage pulses in combination with photoionization produce spatially uniform continuous electron densities of 2 × 1011 with a 10–20% ripple at 20 000 Hz in 150‐Torr CO2 laser mixes. A separate continuous electric field ranging from 3 to 6 kV/cm atm is used to heat the electrons, which loads greater than 0.25 J/cm3 atm into the plasma without arc breakdown. As is the case with electron beamplasmas,E/P and ne may be controlled independently. Hence, electron beams,flow constrictions, etc., are not necessary to produce uniform plasmas for cw high‐power electric gas laser systems.