Electrical and optical characteristics of a multichannel N2-laser

The influence of electrical parameters on the optical properties of atmospheric pressure transversely excited N₂-lasers of the Blumlein-type is investigated. Experiments are performed using a multichannel laser system providing high repetition rate trains of nanosecond pulses (50 to 100 MHz). Both the high voltage rise and decay times of the order of several kV/ns are determined electro-optically and correlated with the intensity and time lag of the optical pulses. Using an injection technique the intensity and beam divergence could be markedly improved.