Abstract

At the LSP of Grenoble, we have built a 150 watts Cu/HBr laser at 20 kHz repetition rate and with 1.5% wall plug efficiency. The comparison with a Copper Vapour Lase of the same size [1,2] shows the great potential of the Cu/HBr laser from optical power and beam quality points of view. We believe it is an excellent tool for spectroscopy applications. In order to understand the differences between these two types of lasers, we have studied the kinetics of the species inside the discharge tube. Some work has already been done on the electron density measurement [3].

© 1996 Optical Society of America