Discharge characteristics and output performance of a UV‐preionized XeCl laser

Discharge characteristics and output performance of a self‐sustained discharge XeCl laser have been investigated exxperimentally and theoretically. The operating E/P and discharge resistivity in a quasi‐steady state were studied with Ne‐ and He‐based mixtures; E is the electric field strength and P the operating pressure. Electron energy distribution functions of these mixture became almost equal at each E/P. Small absorption and faster gain build‐up due to faster ion‐ion recombination resulted in more efficient energy extraction in Ne‐based mixture. Moreover, our theoretical model predicted the further scaling limitation not due to the build‐up of nonsaturable absorption but due to the consumption of HC1.