Kinetics of excitation and relaxation of atomic levels in active media of copper vapor lasers and copper bromide lasers were studied experimentally. Population densities of the copper atoms ground state, upper and lower laser levels, and some higher lying levels were measured with temporal and spatial resolution during the excitation pulse and interpulse period. The measurements were made for laser discharge tubes with an active zone of 2 cm in diameter and 40 - 50 cm of length. Main physical processes determining operation of the lasers are discussed. From the experimental results estimates of electron density and electron temperature are made. Comparison of kinetics in copper vapor laser and in copper bromide laser with and without hydrogen additives is given.

A review of experimental study of the transverse-discharge copper vapor laser is presented. The laser design and electro-physical and energetic measurements are described. Laser output average power exceeded 100 W at a pulse repetition rate of 2 kHz. Comparative analysis of the transverse and longitudinal discharges lasers are fulfilled. The problem of output beam formation with small divergence in powerful laser is considered. Output power of 100 W and divergence of 2 X 10^-4 rad were obtained with an unstable telescopic cavity. The MOPA system, which decreased the losses in non-axial beams and provided the oscillation of the beam with small divergence, is investigated.

On the basis of numerical computations results of the metal-vapor laser kinetics a general pattern is analyzed of physical processes in plasma, which govern the lasing parameters. A simple formula for estimation of the energy output and optimal laser regime parameters is presented. Similitude relationships are derived which associate various operating conditions of pulsed metallic vapor lasers and which allow systematization of their parameters.

Main results of the investigations performed by specialists of the Research-Production Association `Istok' (Russia) on creation of a parametric row of sealed-off copper vapor lasers with output powers from 1 to 100 W are presented.

The method and results of numerical analysis of the copper-vapor laser parameters are presented. Comparison is made between the computed and experimental results. The recommendations for the increasing of efficiency and specific average laser power are given.

A laser design with pulsed vapor generation capability for studying metal vapor lasing in this kind of apparatus geometry is outlined. The CVL action was obtained at (lambda) equals 510.6 and 578.2 nm with specific output power and energy of 32 kW/cm³ and 0.64 mJ/cm³, respectively. It is shown that pulsed vapor production makes it possible to minimize the discharge circuit inductance because the temperature of the insulator and electrodes is virtually unchanged. The proposed apparatus is to be used for investigating laser action in transversely excited refractory metal vapors.

A review of the latest studies on the Sr-He and Ca-He gas-discharge lasers emitting in blue- violet and UV spectral regions is presented. On the basis of plasma diagnostics and spectroscopic investigations, the conclusion is drawn on the recombination excitation mechanism prevalence. Laser tubes of various designs with longitudinal and transverse discharge excitation, their operation regimes and output characteristics, are analyzed, including a regime of simultaneous oscillations on recombination, charge-transfer pumped, and self-terminating electron-impact excited laser transitions. Already realized and perspective applications of the lasers are also discussed.

The properties of cadmium ion level excitation by means of second-kind collisions with buffer gas ions or metastable atoms in a negative glow of steady-state hollow cathode discharge are discussed. The electron energy distribution function, electric field distribution, and relevant level excitation rates were calculated and measured. The laser output power was measured as a function of discharge parameters and laser tube design for blue (441.6 nm), green (533.7 and 537.8 nm), and red (636 nm) He-Cd⁺ laser lines in continuous wave hollow cathode discharge both in lasing at individual lines and in three-color output regime that gives white- light emission. Output powers of 115 mW, 25 mW, and 13 mW for blue, green, and red lines, respectively, and a noise level less than 1% rms were obtained.

The plasma parameters and output power characteristics for pulsed ion He-Hg⁺, Ne- Tl⁺, Ne-Ga⁺, and He-Cu⁺ lasers in hollow cathode discharge are presented and discussed. The populations of the upper laser levels pumped by means of charge transfer between metal atoms and buffer gas ions and destroyed by electron de- excitation process are determined not only in the afterglow but also during the current pulsewidth. The measurements show that the pulsed laser lines of 615 nm Hg⁺ and 595 nm Tl⁺ are most effective, and average output powers on these lines up to 880 mW and 285 mW at pulse repetition rate of 40 kHz and 15 kHz, respectively, were obtained. The isotopic and hyperfine structure of Hg⁺ and Tl⁺ laser lines is revealed.

An analysis of available transitions for pulsed laser oscillation from the first resonance levels to the metastable levels (r-m transitions) in singly ionized atoms is presented. The characteristics of resonance and metastable levels and wavelengths of corresponding r-m transitions are given for 30 elements. Energy level diagrams are presented for 8 typical elements.

Two types of fluctuations of discharge and laser parameters in low pressure quasi-cw Ba vapor lasers first built by the authors were investigated. The possibility of cw mode for a laser operating at higher buffer gas pressures was assessed; the discharge and lasing parameters of Ba vapor laser with longitudinal discharge were calculated.

Power, temporal, spectral, and spatial characteristics of spontaneous and stimulated emission from repetitively pulsed discharge gold-vapor laser are presented in this paper. Some aspects of design and applications of this laser are discussed too.

An experimental apparatus for studying laser action in metal vapors and gaseous media pumped by e-beams from compact accelerators at 10 - 750 degree(s)C is described. The results obtained from He-Cd, He-Zn, He-NF₃, He-Ne-Ar, and Ne-H₂ mixtures are reported. The requirements to a high-efficiency metal vapor laser medium pumped by e-beam are examined.

This paper presents the results of the experimental investigations of gas-discharge laser using ionized europium vapors at high pressures of the active medium (from 1 to 5 atm) in a tube 15 cm long and 2.7 cm in diameter. Metal vapor, as a low-ionized component of vapor-gas mixtures, was shown to provide the functioning of powerful longitudinal homogeneous pulse periodic gas discharge throughout the entire buffer gas pressures range under study. At pumping by such a discharge the lasing with (lambda) equals 1001.9 nm in He-Eu II laser exists up to about 5 atm of the mixture pressure, and the lasing power as well as laser efficiency grow up to at least 3.5 atm. At 3.5 atm the power of quasicontinuous lasing achieved was 165 W(DOT)cm^-3 in comparison with 40 W(DOT)cm^-3 at atmospheric pressure. On the basis of the performed investigations and previous results obtained on the pumping of atmospheric pressure laser by the beams of runaway electrons with an energy of 5 to 6 keV, the conclusion was made about the promising future of pumping of this media by powerful electron and proton beams, and nuclear reactions products with probable achievement of the specific lasing energy W approximately equals 1 J(DOT)cm^-3.

Different types of interferometers designed by authors and based on the active optical system with a copper-vapor brightness amplifier are considered. These devices are shown to make it possible to control the quality of multilayer films on semiconductor surfaces, to measure small elements of the relief with extremely high accuracy. Rather large objects can be measured as well (the field of view can have a diameter as large as 35 mm).

We consider the application of active optical systems with metal vapor brightness amplifiers in holographic interferometry. The method is based on the scheme of a laser projection microscope with a dark-field object illumination. It enables one to obtain information about shape and size distortions of object surface topology elements with accuracy up to a fraction of an amplifier radiation wavelength.

The results of the first experiments carried out while investigating ionization processes under the interaction of CVL radiation with carbon (graphite) surface have been described. The main relationships of ionic emission caused by a combination of `explosioe' character of ionic emission and high repetition frequency of laser pulses have been revealed. Experiments in which CVL was used for deposition of films, annealing of materials, and formation of p-n transitions have been also carried out.

The excitation of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) by a CuBr-laser in a 1300 m long fiber with a core diameter of 7 micrometers was investigated experimentally. The fiber was excited either by green or by yellow line. Up to 22 Stokes components were observed. The SRS spectrum covered a spectral region to 1 micrometers .

About 100 patients were treated for cervical erosion, cervical leukoplakia, and vulval warts in the Gynecology Department of the adult polyclinic of the Zelenograd Center of Medicine. Copper vapor laser (CVL) was used with output average power up to 4 W in two lines (510 nm, 578 nm). Pulse repetition rate was about 10 kHz, pulselength approximately 20 - 40 ns. Four to twelve procedures were sufficient to recover.