Pulse energy scaling characteristics of longitudinally excited Sr⁺ discharge recombination lasers

Pulse energy scaling of longitudinally excited Sr⁺ discharge recombination lasers has been investigated for a series of tubes with active volumes of 30, 200, and 1000 cm³ operating at low pulse repetition rates. Specific energy densities (~6–9 µJ/cm³ in the short-pulse mode) and conversion efficiencies (~0.1 percent) were found to remain approximately constant with increasing volume. Single pulse energies exceeding 6 mJ at λ430.5 mm corresponding to peak powers over 20 kW have been achieved.