The results of experiments with a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) are presented, where the production of metastable argon atoms was studied. The recently proposed optically pumped all-rare-gas laser (OPRGL) utilizes metastable atoms of heavier rare gases as lasing species. The required number density of metastables for efficient laser operation is 10¹²÷10¹³ cm^-3 in an atmospheric pressure of He buffer gas. Recent experiments had shown that such densities are easily produced in a nanosecond pulsed discharge, even at pressures larger than atmospheric, but problems appear when one is trying to produce them in a CW regime. The reason for difficulties in the CW production of metastables at an atmospheric pressure seems to be the low value of the E/N parameter (<5-6 Td). In our experiments a 20 KHz DBD in 2-5% Ar mixture with He at an atmospheric pressure was studied. [Ar(1s₅)] number density of the order of 10¹² cm^-3 was readily achieved. Temporal behavior of [Ar(1s₅)] throughout the DBD cycle was obtained. The results demonstrate the feasibility of DBDs for OPRGL development.

Date Published: 13 January 2017
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 10254, XXI International Symposium on High Power Laser Systems and Applications 2016, 102540X (13 January 2017); doi: 10.1117/12.2256172

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 10254:
XXI International Symposium on High Power Laser Systems and Applications 2016
Dieter Schuoecker; Richard Majer; Julia Brunnbauer, Editor(s)