Demonstration of >100-ns pulse lengths in a KrF discharge laser

There has been a great deal of interest in achieving long (>100-ns) output pulse lengths in excimer discharge lasers. The long pulse lengths are desired in applications such as narrowband operation of these devices. There has been a considerable amount of success in obtaining long pulse lengths in XeCl but much more limited success in KrF. This paper describes what we believe is the first demonstration of a KrF self-sustained discharge laser with output laser pulse lengths of >100 ns.