Ion laser plasmas

The typical noble gas ion laser plasma consists of a high-current-density glow discharge in a noble gas, in the presence of a magnetic field. Typical CW plasma conditions are current densities of 100 to 2000 A/cm 2 , tube diameters of 1 to 10 mm, filling pressures of 0.1 to 1.0 torr, and an axial ma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inProceedings of the IEEE Vol. 59; no. 5; pp. 724 - 737
Main Authors Bridges, W.B., Chester, A.N., Halsted, A.S., Parker, J.V.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 01.01.1971
Subjects
Current density
Electron tubes
Filling
Gas lasers
Glow discharges
Magnetic fields
Plasma density
Plasma properties
Plasma temperature
Pump lasers
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Summary:The typical noble gas ion laser plasma consists of a high-current-density glow discharge in a noble gas, in the presence of a magnetic field. Typical CW plasma conditions are current densities of 100 to 2000 A/cm 2 , tube diameters of 1 to 10 mm, filling pressures of 0.1 to 1.0 torr, and an axial magnetic field of the order of 1000 G. Under these conditions the typical fractional ionization is about 2 percent and the electron temperature between 2 and 4 eV. Pulsed ion lasers typically use higher current densities and lower operating pressures. This paper discusses the properties of ion laser plasmas, in terms of both their external discharge parameters and their internal ion and excited state densities. The effect these properties have on laser operation is explained. Many interesting plasma effects, which are important in ion lasers, are given attention. Among these are discharge nonuniformity near tube constrictions, extremely high ion radial drift velocities, wall losses intermediate between ambipolar diffusion and free fall, gas pumping effects, and radiation trapping. The current status of ion laser technology is briefly reviewed.
ISSN:0018-9219
1558-2256
DOI:10.1109/PROC.1971.8252