Investigation of the active media in pulsed gas discharge lasers by the Rozhdestvenskii hook method

In this review we generalize the results of our experimental investigations in which the Rozhdestvenskii hook method was first used to look for an inverted population in new spectral transitions. An inverted population in new 3p–3s transitions of the neon atom with =588.1, 594.4, 650.6, and 653.2 nm was discovered in the active medium of a Penning plasma laser emitting the =585.3 nm neon line in Ne-H₂ and Ne-H₂-Ar mixtures. Results of investigations of a number of active media are given. An analysis is made of the spatial and temporal distributions of copper atoms in the ground state and of their influence on the lasing efficiency of a copper-vapor laser. Using the rhenium atom as an example, it was shown to be possible to obtain a sufficiently high concentration of refractory metal atoms (>10¹⁴ cm^–3) in an active medium to form active media of lasers utilizing self-terminating transitions and also plasma lasers.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 12, pp. 3–27, December, 1994.