Development of An Electron-Beam Pumped, Argon Fluoride Laser for Inertial Confinement Fusion

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has converted the repetitively pulsed Electra krypton fluoride (KrF) laser system to an electron-beam (e-beam) pumped argon fluoride (ArF) laser. Operating at 193 nm, ArF has the potential of being the most efficient excimer laser. Due to the shorter ultraviolet (UV) wavelength and broad native bandwidth, the ArF laser is a compelling candidate for an inertial confinement fusion (ICF) driver. Experiments conducted in amplifier and oscillator configurations have produced initial data on the small signal gain, intrinsic efficiency, and laser yield. These measurements are compared with the ArF kinetics code Orestes, under development at NRL.