Increase in the laser pulse length of lasers operating on self-quenching transitions

The reasons limiting the time for maintaining population inversion in lasers operating on self-quenching transitions are investigated theoretically and experimentally. It is shown how the nature of the pumping of the upper laser level affects this property of the active medium in N₂ and N₂-Ar lasers.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 1, pp. 81–86, January, 1978.