Enhanced output from He-Ne laser by nuclear preionization

For the first time it has been demonstrated that heavy-ion bombardment of an electrically pulsed He-Ne laser, operating on the 1.15-μ and 3,39-μ transitions in neon, can produce substantial increases in laser output. Previous authors (1-3) have shown that enhanced output from CO₂ lasers is also possible. In both cases high-energy charged particles were produced by neutron bombardment of a surface coating of boron-10 or by neutron reactions with ³He gas. These charged particles then slow down in the gas mixture, depositing energy in the lasing gas. As a result, significant increases in laser output are observed compared to operation with electrical pumping alone, even though the nuclear energy input is a small fraction of the total. These results have important implications relative to the goal of direct nuclear pumping of gas lasers and subsequently the development of efficient, high-powered laser systems (4-5).