High pressure pulsed radial glow discharge CO, laser

This paper describes the development of the Radial Glow Discharge Pulsed CO2 Laser (RCL) Technology. This laser is pumped by a high pressure UVpreionized self sustained glow discharge. The discharge is between two concenteric cylinders, with radial current flow. Radial UV preionization leaves the ends open for laser power extraction. The 5 kW laser extraction is axial out of the device. The laser uses 2 resonant charge circuits operating in parallel to charge the main discharge PFN and the UV preionization circuit at 50 Hz. The UV preionization circuit drives 8 sets of flashboards in parallel using 1 thyratron.