Abstract

Barium vapour lasers (BVLs) are an efficient (-0.5%), high average power (10-15W) and high pulse rate (-10kHz) source operating on a variety of wavelengths in the near-mid IR (1.13, 1.50, 2.55 and 4.72 microns). Applications include scanning ranging, optical fibre testing and projection microscopy. The BVL is also a very interesting test system for studying general metal vapour laser (MVL) kinetics as many important species in the discharge, including the ground-state, upper and lower laser-levels and ion states, are accessible using interferometric 'hook' spectroscopy on visible transitions. Previous studies have suggested that high prepulse lower laser-levels [I] andior electron density[2] are the factors that limit the pulse repetition frequency (PRF). This study describes an investigation into the influence of prepulse conditions on pulse-energies at high PRF which suggests that the prepulse ground-state profile is also very important.

© 1996 Optical Society of America