Abstract

An optical cavity, which includes a grating, two etalons, and a resonant reflector, was used to restrict a XeCl oscillator to a single longitudinal mode. Single-mode operation was verified by studying the oscillator output in both the frequency and time domains. The spectrum was analyzed with a 1-GHz FSR Fabry-Perot etalon, while the temporal pulse shape was recorded with a vacuum photodiode connected to an oscilloscope with a 400-MHz bandwidth. Since the mode spacing was 160 MHz, beating between nearby modes could be observed readily. The output power (2 kW in 10 ns) is 2 orders of magnitude greater than previously attained in an excimer oscillator that was not injection seeded by a narrow-line source. The oscillator described in this paper has the advantage of simplicity compared to previous injection seeding experiments, in which cw dye lasers were pulse amplified to obtain a narrow injection source.

© 1986 Optical Society of America