Scientific foundations of powerful photodissociation lasers (history of research in the 1960s at the Division of Quantum Radiophysics of the P N Lebedev Physics Institute)

A brief account is given of the history of research on construction of powerful pulse lasers, carried out in the sixties at the Division of Quantum Radiophysics of the Lebedev Physics Institute, USSR Academy of Sciences. The operating principle of a photodissociation laser, pumped by shock-wave radiation and by an open high-temperature discharge, is described. This laser is distinguished by the excitation of a shock wave or of a discharge directly in its active medium, which ensures a high laser efficiency. A description is given of a photodissociation laser with output pulses of 250 kJ energy.