IMPROVED LASING PROPERTIES OF THE HEN2+ SYSTEM AT 391 NM AND 428 NM BY H-2 ADMIXTURE

The He/N//2 system lasing on the N//2** plus **P**L**U(B) yields N//2 ** plus **P**L**U(X,0) transition at 391 nm and on the N//2** plus **P**L**(B) yields N//2** plus **P**L**U(X,1) transition at 428 nm was investigated by e-beam excitation. By adding H//2 the lower laser state is efficiently quenched, which leads to a drastic improvement of the laser properties. A kinetic model is proposed which accounts for the experimental results. For a laser amplifier operated at 5 bar total efficiencies of 0. 6% and 0. 7% are predicted for the 391 nm and 428 nm transitions respectively.