A kinetics scheme for the XeF laser

Abstract
A kinetics scheme is described for electron‐beam excitation of the XeF laser in a neon diluent. Both Ne+ and Ne* channels contribute significantly to the formation of the upper laser level. In each chain an important Penning ionization process leads to the formation of Xe+, which is the major intermediary in forming the upper laser level. Xe+2 is found to be the dominant absorber of laser radiation. The effect of the weakly bound XeF ground state is discussed.