Lasing in optically pumped Ar:He mixture excited in a dielectric barrier discharge

Abstract

In this communication, we present the results of experiments with optically pumped rare gas laser (OPRGL) with a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) as the source of metastable Ar atoms and a pulsed OPO system as the optical pump. In a longitudinal pumping scheme, the threshold input intensity to achieve lasing was 3.9 kW cm-2. Lasing was observed in the pressure range from 100 to 750 Torr. However, lasing was possible only during the limited time of the DBD applied voltage cycle.