Transverse discharge with prebreakdown ionization multiplication of electrons in the working media of N2- and HF-lasers

Results of an investigation of the characteristics of a transverse discharge with prebreakdown ionization multiplication of electrons in the working media of N₂(C-B)-and SF₆/H₂ chemical HF-lasers are reported. The conditions of initiation of a stable volume discharge in the discharge gap with low homogeneity of the electrical-field distribution are investigated. A quasisteady plasma based on N₂ molecules with a radiation duration of ≤0.5 μsec at transitions of the 2⁺-system and a homogeneous discharge in a SF₆/H₂=(3–7)/(1–2) kPa mixture, which is of interest for preionization of the working medium of an HF-laser by the predischarge method, are obtained. Uzhgorod State University, 46, Pidgirna Str., Uzhgorod, 294000, Ukraine. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 66, No. 3, pp. 412–415, May–June, 1999.