Analysis on the steady-state amplification of ArF and KrF discharge lasers

Abstract
The saturation behavior of the steady‐state amplification of discharge‐pumped ArF and KrF lasers have been analyzed by numerical calculation taking into account absorption, spontaneous decay, and pumping. This analysis predicts the noticeable pulse‐width broadening due to amplification in good agreement with experiments. The small‐signal‐gain g0 and absorption coefficients a were determined simultaneously by the best fits of experimental saturation curves to numerically calculated ones with the results of g0=3.5%/cm and a=0.2%/cm for the ArF laser and g0=5.0%/cm and a=0.4%/cm for the KrF laser under the investigated conditions.