Pulsed inductive CO₂ laser with radio-frequency excitation and influence of the H₂ content on the efficiency and lasing temporal characteristics

In 2021, data on the effective pulsed gas discharge inductive CO₂ laser with radio-frequency (RF) excitation were published with a pulse output energy of E∼ 1 J (the efficiency η∼ 14.5%) on the gas mixture He:N₂:CO₂ = 8:2:1. The efficiency of the developed CO₂ laser had exceeded the value η∼ 21% at E∼ 350 mJ. At the beginning of 2022, it was shown that xenon addition (Xe = 4%) to the gas mixture made it possible to achieve an efficiency of η∼ 27% at an output energy of E∼ 600 mJ. For the first time, the effect of hydrogen additives in the active medium (He:N₂:CO₂:H₂ and N₂:CO₂:H₂ gas mixtures) was investigated for a pulsed inductive CO₂ laser with RF excitation depending on the RF-pumping pulse duration value (τ), which allows the energy and temporal radiation characteristics of the laser to be controlled over a wider range. In addition to those already published, new experimental data have been obtained, namely the output beam profile of the inductive CO₂ laser based on He:N₂:CO₂ = 8:2:1 gas mixture depending on the τ value. The new data will improve our understanding of inductive CO₂ laser physics and of the plasma-chemical processes occurring in its active medium. RF current pulses propagated along inductor wires and, thus, an inductive discharge was formed to create a population inversion by IR transitions of CO₂^* molecules.