Rare-gas-halide laser performance by the use of two halogen donors

Abstract

A method is disclosed for optimizing the performance of self sustained diarge rear gas halide lasers by using a gas mixture containing two halogen bearing gases. One of these gases is chosen for its attaching properties to optimize the operation of the discharge. The other gas is chosen for its weak attachment and its ability to form the excimer molecule in collisions with rare gas metastables. A representative strongly attaching halogen donor, XHn, is selected from F.sub.2 and NF.sub.3, and a representative nonattaching halogen donor, YHn, which may be weakly attaching, is selected from CH.sub.3 F, CH.sub.2 F.sub.2, and CHF.sub.3. The XHn gas has a concentration value from approximately 0.1 percent up to about 10 percent which is adjusted to maximize the production rate for excited and positively ionized rare gas atoms to yield the excimer state molecules RgHn*, wherein Rg is a rare gas. The identity and amount of XHn are chosen to (i) ensure operation of the discharge at a field to pressure ratio E/N and current density which maximizes Rg* and Rg.sup.+ production by appropriate control of the attachment loss rate of electrons, and (ii) to have the predominant attachment reaction be one which produces Hn.sup.- ions, rather than some other negative ion(s) so that RgHn* is produced by the recombination reaction Rg.sup.+ +Hn.sup.- +M.fwdarw.RgHn*+M, wherein M is a rare gas diluent to stabilize the recombination reaction.