High-frequency discharge stability of waveguide He-Ne lasers

The paper deals with the small-signal behavior and the stability of discharges in narrow capillaries. A theory is presented, which assumes that the time constants of the particle balance and the wall sheath extension determine the small signal behavior of a positive column. The column admittance is used to analyze the stability of an electric circuit typical for a He−Ne waveguide laser discharge. Numerical evaluation shows qualitative agreement of the experimental and the theoretical stability diagrams.