Efficient long-pulse XeCl laser with a prepulse formed by an inductive energy storage device

An efficient electric-discharge XeCl laser is developed, which is pumped by a self-sustained discharge with a prepulse formed by a generator with an inductive energy storage device and a semiconductor current interrupter on a basis of semiconductor opening switch (SOS) diodes. An output energy up to 800 mJ, a pulse length up to 450 ns, and a total laser efficiency of 2.2% were attained by using spark UV preionisation.