Theoretical high-efficiency extraction study of a short-pulse electron-beam-pumped ArF laser amplifier with atmospheric pressure Ar-rich mixtures

The single-pass (50 cm) amplifier performance of an atmospheric-pressure ArF laser pumped by a 65-ns full-width-at-half-maximum short-pulse electron beam was investigated theoretically for a wide range of excitation rates (0.1-2.0 MW/cm³ ). Atmospheric mixtures of Ne, Ar, and F₂ (three mixtures of Ar=40%, 70%, and Ne-free) were studied. A kinetic numerical model of the ArF amplifier with a Ne buffer system was constructed. A one-dimensional propagation treatment considered the gain depletion and saturation absorption spatially and temporally along the optical axis. In this model the rate constants for electron quenching of ArF* of 1.6×10^-7, 1.9×10^-7, and 2.4×10 ^-7 cm³/s were used for Ar concentration of 40, 70 percent, and Ar/F₂ mixture, respectively