Exploration of Jitter in Solid-State Switch-Based Pulse Power Supply of Copper Vapor Laser

The copper vapor laser (CVL) is the most powerful and efficient resonance metastable metal-vapor laser having widespread applications. Jitter requirements are very stringent when the CVL is operated in the oscillator–amplifier configuration. Jitter in the laser affects proper synchronization and thereby affects the output power and its stability. Although thyratron-based power supplies have low jitter, it has limited operational life. So, solid-state switch-based pulse power supply is preferable. In the solid-state switch-based pulse power supply of CVL, several parameters simultaneously contribute to jitter in the laser optical output. To observe the parameter-affecting jitter and its contribution, we carry out MATLAB simulations, which are experimentally validated. We demonstrate by simulation and experiments that variations in the laser load impedance significantly contribute to jitter and, by minimizing the effect of laser load variations on the power supply, jitter in the laser can be significantly reduced.