Experimental evidence for the role of Xe2+ in pumping the Ar-Xe infrared laser

In a series of experiments on the Naval Research Laboratory's Electra generator, we have measured the dependence of the laser output in the principal (1.733 mu m) transition of the Ar-Xe laser upon both initial gas temperature and Xe concentration. The data show that the laser output is less sensitive to gas temperature when the laser gas contains more Xe. The destruction rate of the molecular ion ArXe+ increases rapidly with gas temperature, but that of Xe-2(+) does not. Interpreted with a kinetics model, these data indicate that both Xe-2(+) and ArXe+ contribute to the pumping of the ArXe laser.