Lasing due to transitions in atomic fluorine in an He–NF3 mixture pumped by electron-beam pulses of ~ 10 ns duration

Lasing due to six transitions in atomic fluorine was obtained by electron beam pumping of an He–NF₃ mixture. Dependences of the radiation power on the pressure and on the ratio of the mixture components were studied. Modeling of this laser was performed and it was found that the most probable process of population of the upper active levels was dissociative transfer of energy from metastable helium atoms.