Escaping electrons and discharges based on the background-electron multiplication wave for the pumping of lasers and lamps

A review of the recent papers devoted to the phenomena realized upon nanosecond discharges in dense gases pumped with high-voltage pulses with subnanosecond edges is presented. The following problems are considered: (i) the dynamics of the fast (including escaping) electrons that provide for the background ionization of the dense gas, (ii) the propagation of the background-electron multiplication wave, and (iii) the discharges based on the background-electron multiplication wave. It is demonstrated that discharges based on the background-electron multiplication wave are promising for lasing at transitions that were shown to be involved in lasing in dense gas upon electron-beam pumping and in the afterglow of a pulsed discharge. In particular, they are promising for pumping excimer and exciplex lasers. In addition, such discharges can be used in excil-amps that generate high-power spontaneous pulsed radiation.