High pulse repetition rate metal & metal halide vapor lasers

In the paper, we show the present state of the art of high pulse repetition frequency (PRF) metal vapor lasers (MVL's) and metal halide vapor lasers (MHVL's) development. We also analyze underlying physical features, which limit optimum and maximum PRF of the above lasers and mention the results of the experimental study of high PRF CuBr and PbBr2 vapor lasers. By use of a powerful tasitron as a switch and a small hydrogen additive to the buffer gas Ne we obtained the output power of a practical use with PRF more than 200 kHz. Given PRF 250 kHz and a laser tube of diameter 2.5 cm and length 76 cm, we have got the output power 1.5 W. For PRF 200 kHz and 100 kHz, the output power 3 W and 10.5 W has been got respectively without gas flow across the discharge tube. Experimental and numerical modelling data evidence that the small H-2 (or Cs) additives improve the frequency and output features of MVL's and MHVL's.