Realization of 1-kW XeCl laser

The VEL industrial XeCl laser has reached 1 kW average power at a pulse repetition rate between 80 and 100 Hz (12.5 J X 80 Hz or 10 J X 100 Hz) with an overall efficiency of about 2%. Single pulse operation gives a maximum energy per shot of 15 J (efficiency 2%) and a maximum efficiency of more than 2.5% at 10 J (150 ns FWHM); the beam size is 8 X 6 cm 2 .