Electric-discharge xenon laser with weak external ionization

A laser utilizing infrared transitions in Xe, operating in the radiation field of a continuously operating nuclear reactor, was constructed and investigated for the first time. The maximum energy characteristics of the laser (specific output energy ~ 0.1 J/liter, efficiency ~ 0.1–0.2% of the energy deposited in the gas) were obtained for a mixture of the Ar:Xe = 100:1 composition at a pressure of 2 atm when the gas was ionized by ²³⁵U fission fragments. The laser could be operated at temperatures up to 650 °C.