MECHANISM OF ENERGY DECREASE IN THE XEBR LASER

The xenon bromide discharge laser utilizes the reaction of Xe* with HBr to produce XeBr* in a dilute mixture with He or Ne buffer gas. XeBr lasers previously reported suffer from a high gas usage rate under static fill conditions. This is caused by the decomposition of HBr in the laser discharge to bromine and hydrogen. This reaction can be reversed using a catalyst in an external gas circulating system. We demonstrate a tenfold reduction in the consumption of the laser mix, namely 126 shots per liter of gas mix for decay of laser energy to 75% of maximum.