EFFICIENT HIGH-HOMOGENEOUS WIDE-APERTURE EXCIMER DISCHARGE USING A STABILIZING LOW-CURRENT PREDISCHARGE

A technique of initiation of a self-sustained electrical discharge for pumping excimer lasers, based on the use of a stabilizing predischarge with an electron density N(e) approximately 10(12)-10(13) CM-3 , has been developed. It has been demonstrated that such an auxiliary discharge is stable for random disturbances of the plasma parameters. An efficient, stable, and highly homogeneous pumping discharge of duration up to 800 ns with an aperture of 6 X 12 cm2 and current density of approximately 300 A/cm2 has been realized in Ne(He,Ar)/Xe(Kr)/HCI mixtures. The proposed technique can be used in developing wide-aperture excimer lasers and shows promise for creating high-repetition-rate systems of kilowatt average. power.