Abstract

There has been a recent revival of interest in the high pressure Ar/Xe laser, which operates predominantly on the $5d{\left[3/2\right]}_1^0—6p{\left[5/2\right]}_2$ xenon transition. This interest has been sparked by the excellent atmospheric transmission at the 1.73-μm wavelength of this transition, the very high efficiency observed when pumped by an e-beam sustained discharge,¹ and the capability of the laser to be efficiently pumped by a reactor,² e-beam,³ and UV⁴ and x-ray preionized⁵ discharges.

© 1990 Optical Society of America