High-Energy Excimer Lasers Using Advanced Thyratron Switches

The performance of recently developed hollow-anode thyratrons in high-energy uniform-beam XeCX lasers has been studied. Using a single thyratron, a peak laser pulse energy of 1.24 J was demonstrated. Reliable long-term operation at 100 W average power and 100 pulses per second has been achieved at a peak forward thyratron current of 15 kA and reverse current of 6 kA. A dual thyratron driver has been developed and achieved a peak output energy of 1.61 J from the same laser device. This scheme lends itself to simple length scaling of excimer lasers to higher pulse energies. Thus, high power excimer lasers can be designed using commercially available thyratrons, while still maintaining uniform, diffuse gas discharge quality.