Pulsed cyclic laser based on dissociative excitation

A pulsed laser for producing emitted laser energy by dissociative excitation in an electric discharge of metal dihalides and their cyclic recombination comprising:

• a sealed enclosure;
• first and second elongate electrodes having external terminals and supported in parallel relationship within said sealed enclosure for forming a gap therebetween along the principal axis of said sealed enclosure;
• a source of pulsed electrical power connected to said terminals for producing repetitive, uniform, transverse electric discharges across said gap at pressures optimized for the lasing process;
• a metal dihalide selected from subgroup II-B of the periodic table of elements and contained within said enclosure;
• a heat source for maintaining said metal dihalide in a vaporized state;
• a substantially inert buffer gas contained within said sealed enclosure and selected for aiding electric discharge uniformity and for aiding in the collisional excitation of the lasing medium and to provide vibrational relaxation of the lasing medium in its electronic states;
• means disposed within said sealed enclosure for preionizing the lasing medium within said enclosure in response to pulses of electrical power cyclically applied in synchronism immediately prior to the pulses produced by said source of pulsed electrical power;
• and
• a reflective surface and a partially reflective surface disposed in alignment with the principal axis of said sealed enclosure for producing optical feedback for the emitted laser energy.

A method of producing laser energy by dissociative excitation by electrical discharge comprising the steps of:

• selecting a metal dihalide from the subgroup II-B of the periodic table of elements;
• containing the selected metal dihalide within a sealed enclosure having transparent windows at opposite ends of its principal axis;
• maintaining the selected metal dihalide in a vaporized state;
• preionizing the lasing medium within said enclosure in response to pulses of electrical power applied in synchronism immediately prior to pulsed electric discharges between a pair of electrodes;
• pulsing electric discharges between a pair of electrodes across the principal axis of said enclosure to initiate the emission of laser energy;
• and
• disposing a reflective surface and a partially reflective surface in alignment with the principal axis of said sealed enclosure for producing optical feedback for the emitted laser energy.