Construction, operation and output characteristics of a small, long-life, cataphoretic HeSe laser

The properties and main design features of a small, cataphoretic HeSe⁺ laser are described. By improving both the He buffer gas containment and the Se vapour deposition, laser life can be increased considerably to several thousand hours. The length of the active laser region can be reduced to 100 mm without appreciable loss in single pass gain by reduction of the capillary diameter to 1 mm. Up to 3 mW laser power in six blue-green and green Sell lines can be extracted from this small active volume. By synchronizing the spontaneous discharge striations in the He-Se vapour mixture, laser noise is reduced to less than 3% r m s. A few potential applications for this type of laser are listed to encourage commercial interest.