Láser supra-atmosférico de alta repetición para foto-disociación selectiva

We present the development of a transversally excited CO₂ laser that operates at pressures up to 200 kPa and 50 Hz repetition rate. The laser has been designed to trigger photo-chemical reactions. We perform a detailed study of the well-known system of capacitive transfer to exploit its virtues and avoid the use of complex system of greater cost and lower reliability. We developed a simple method to reduce the inductance of the outer circuit, thus obtaining a shorter pump pulse with fewer shots that go into the arc regime. The feeding scheme also insures a more uniform current distribution. In addition, we implemented a numerical model that simulates the discharge, considering a novel treatment of the non-linear discharge resistance. The results of this model allow optimizing the efficiency of the laser. We obtained reliable operation with pulses of ≈ 85 ns FWHM and peak power higher than 45 MW) that selectively initiate photo-dissociation reactions in the spectral range from 9 to 11 μm.