High-energy N2 laser pumped by a longitudinal discharge

The results of investigating N₂ lasers pumped by a pulsed longitudinal discharge are presented. Conditions have been defined for stable burning of a volume discharge of 40 ns duration at a current density up to 5 kA/cm² and a specific pump power up to 10 MW/cm³. A generation energy of 3.5 mJ and a pulse full width at half maximum up to 24 ns are obtained. The temporal and spatial behavior of laser radiation is investigated. The ability of the laser to operate in pulse-periodic mode with a pulse repetition rate up to 100 Hz is shown.