High-repetition-rate xenon laser with transverse excitation

Pulsed laser action has been obtained in neutral xenon in the infrared at a repetition rate of 1.4 kHz by using a transversely excited helium-xenon discharge. This high PRF was made possible by the use of a transverse gas flow to remove the residual ions from the discharge region. We have been able to obtain 5.2 W of average power from an 80-cm-long closed-cycle device in which the flow velocity is 30 m/s. The xenon pressure is 0.1-1 torr, which is 10-100 times greater than that for CW xenon lasers. Pulses of 10⁴W peak power and 0.5 μs duration are obtained with spectral components at 2.027, 3.508, and 3.652 μ.