Argon and krypton ion lasers work typically in CW (continuous wave) mode. In many of applications, the continuous operation of ion lasers is not required. Presented in this article laser power supply makes possible to operate in two regimes: continuous and quasi-continuous (multi-pulse). In multi-pulse operation the most of output power limits for continuous regime was overcame. This allowed increasing the laser output power considerably. Particularly excellent results were obtained for laser tube filled with Ar-Kr mixture and operating in UV range. The main phenomenon deciding on output laser power increasing in pulse and multi-pulse operation is minimization of harmful effects of gas pumping. Possibility of multi-pulse operation creates new advantages of ion lasers and extends range of its applications.

Date Published: 11 October 2005
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 5958, Lasers and Applications, 595832 (11 October 2005); doi: 10.1117/12.622998

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 5958:
Lasers and Applications
Krzysztof M. Abramski; Antonio Lapucci; Edward F. Plinski, Editor(s)