Opto-electronics 4 (1972) 43-44

A simple, high power nitrogen laser

D. B A S T I N G , F. P. SCHh, FER, B. STEYER
Max-Planck-lnstitut for Biophysikafische Chemie, Gdttingen, Germany

Received 3 January 1972

A simple high-power nitrogen laser is described giving a peak power of 1.2 MW in

an active length of only 30 cm. We also report results for operation with air and for
operation with a helium-nitrogen mixture at atmospheric pressure.

1. Introduction
The nitrogen laser has attained increased importance as pump light source for dye
lasers because of its convenient wavelength, short risetime and high repetition rate. For
this application the power output of the nitrogen laser should be as high as possible.
In addition, the pumping nitrogen laser should also be of simple design and operation
in order to maintain the advantage of the inherent simplicity of dye lasers. We have
built several nitrogen lasers, all of the same construction with an active length L of
either 10 or 30 cm, obtaining peak powers of up to 1.2 MW.
Leonard [1] and Gerry [2] first used transverse excitation of the nitrogen laser,
discovered by Heard [3], to obtain high output power. Using a 2 m tube they obtained
a power output of 300 kW. They used an electrode system of 128 segments fed by
coaxial cables discharging a single low inductance capacitor through a triggered spark
gap. Later, Shipman [4] used a 183 cm wide flat-plate transmission line with a character-
istic impedance of only 0.3 f2. This corresponded to 0.55 f2 per metre of active length
and made possible a better match of the plasma load to the source impedance. Using
six dielectric switches connected through length-adjusted coaxial cables to an initiating
switch, a travelling wave of excitation could be launched along the laser tube. This
resulted in a peak laser power of 2.5 MW in the direction of the travelling wave and a
ratio of 10 : 1 in the power emitted from the two ends of the laser tube. A similar design
of Geller et al [5] used a thinner dielectric giving a lower transmission line impedance
with concomitant better match to the impedance of the plasma load. With an impedance
of 0.09 f2/m in a transmission line that was 1.07 m wide, they obtained a peak laser
power of 2.8 MW. Switching was done simultaneously with 20 pressurised spark gaps.
Our design is similar to those of Shipman [4] and Geller et al [5] in that it uses a
transversely excited plasma fed by a parallel-plate transmission line but it differs in
several important respects. First, we use a double parallel-plate transmission line
(Fig. 1) giving half the impedance of the simple line. It has the additional advantage
that the outer conductors are at ground potential, thus reducing electromagnetic
interference caused by the high voltage transient on the inner conductor and in the
plasma. This feature also increases the operator's safety.
9 1972 Chapman and Hall Ltd. 43
 D. Basting, F. P. Schdfer, B. Steyer

~ mirror i

~-~.~ J. ] ~ - - ~ ~ ] electrode polyester-foil

Figure 1 Perspective view and partial cross-section of the laser.

The characteristic impedance Z of the double parallel-plate transmission line is given

by
Z=I • •
i 4, L
where Z0 = 377 f~ is the characteristic impedance of free space, ~ the effective dielectric
constant of the dielectric materials between the conductors, s is the thickness of the
dielectric and L the width of the conductors. For s = 0.4 ram, L = 300 ram, and ~ =
3.25 we obtain Z = 0.14 f~ (corresponding to 0.042 f~/m). The capacitance of this
transmission line is given by
2E L•
C= 1.11 • - - • - - (pF)
4rr s
where l is the length of the line measured in cm. In the laser with L = 30 cm and
l = 50 cm the capacitance was C = 21.6 nF. This gives a stored energy of 4.3 J at
20 kV. The propagation delay of the line is 6 nsec/m, so that the discharge time for
l = 50 cm becomes 3 nsec.
The second important point in our design is the use of a single triggered spark gap
for the laser, eliminating the jitter inherent in all multiple spark gap arrangements. This
is especially important with the extremely short discharge times used. In addition, it
decreases the resistive losses in the spark which are a highly non-linear function of the
energy passed through the gap. Thus, for the small stored energies used in nitrogen
lasers, a single spark through which all the current must pass usually has a much lower
resistance than a parallel arrangement of several spark gaps. A third important point
is that by judicious positioning of the spark gap it is possible to launch a travelling
44
A simple, high power nitrogen laser

wave of excitation along the laser tube much the same as in Shipman's design. For this
purpose the pulse-forming part of the transmission line is given the form of a right
triangle (Fig. 1) with length lp. This length is determined by the condition that the
time difference between the arrival of the voltage jump at the far and near ends of the
laser tube must equal the transit time of light travelling down the laser tube. Hence
lp = (1 - E)L, which for E = 3.25 gives lp ~ 0.62 L.

2. Details of construction
The laser tubes were made of Plexiglas | glass fibre-reinforced Teflon | or Makrolon |
One end of the laser tube was sealed by a plane mirror, the other by a quartzglass
window. When the directionality of the output was to be determined, the mirror was
replaced by another quartzglass window. Nitrogen (or some other suitable gas, see
below) was let in at one end of the tube and pumped out at the other end. All seals
were accomplished by rubber O-rings. Various electrode configurations and electrode
spacings were tried. The experimental results reported in the next section were obtained
with rounded-off brass electrodes 30 cm long, 6 m m wide with an electrode spacing of
15 mm. The conductors were made of self-adhesive copper foil. These were carefully
bonded to films of Hostaphan | a polyester material of high dielectric strength. Great
care had to be exercised so that no air bubbles or dust particles were included between
the copper and dielectric foils, which in our first models often caused electric break-
down after short periods of operation. The lifetime was also improved if two dielectric
foils bonded by adhesive tape were used instead of a single foil of double thickness.
The triggered air-spark-gap was of a simple design, similar to that reported by Kuswa
and Stallings [6]. It was directly soldered into the transmission line in order to minimise
additional inductance.

3. Experimental results
Measurements were made using calibrated biplanar photodiodes (ITT F 4018-UVG)
and a Tektronix 519 travelling wave oscilloscope. The laser beam was attenuated by a

9 , ,I" "~ ~

Figure 20scillogram of several superimposed laser pulses. Sweep speed 2 nsec/cm, pulse height
corresponding to a laser peak power of I = 1.2 MW.
45
 D. Basting, F. P. Schdfer, B. Steyer

1500
N2

~ooo.

o~
500- ~ 2 0 k V

50 ~;0 1;0 2;0

Pressure(Torrl
Figure 3 Laser p e a k p o w e r I versus n i t r o g e n pressure p for c h a r g i n g voltage U = 16 a n d 20 kV,
respectively, L -- 30 cm.

1500
N2 100Torr

~1000
Tort

~" '500.

12 14 16 18 20 Potenti(kV)
ol
Figure 4 Laser p e a k p o w e r I versus c h a r g i n g voltage U for p = 50 a n d 100 tort, respectively, L -- 30 cm.

set of calibrated neutral density filters (Balzers, quartz-glass substrate). Fig. 2 is an

oscillogram of several superimposed laser pulses showing the reproducibility of the
pulses and their nearly Gaussian shape. Peak power as a function of nitrogen pressure
in the laser tube for 16 and 20 kV, respectively, is given in Fig. 3, while Fig. 4 is a
diagram giving peak power as a function of the voltage. In both cases the expected
linear relationship is found. The curve in Fig. 3 peaks at a pressure of about 100 torr
for 20 kV and 80 torr for 16 kV. At low pressures the plasma in the laser tube has the
visual appearance of a thin uniform band connecting the electrodes. As the pressure
is increased the brightness of the plasma band becomes less uniform. At pressures near
the maximum of the output curves parts of the plasma contract into filaments. At even
higher pressures only filaments remain and laser action stops completely. Fig. 5 gives
the power versus pressure at 16 kV for a small laser of only 10 cm active length, all the
other dimensions being the same as in the larger laser. Here the statistical variation in
the peak output power from shot to shot is naturally much greater than in the longer
laser tube. If we consider the average peak power (at 50 torr) to be 25 kW and compare
46
A simple, high power nitrogen laser

3 0 84

~20
v

I0

20 4'0 6'0 8'0 I00

Pressure(Torr)
Figure 5 L a s e r p e a k p o w e r I versus n i t r o g e n pressure p with L = 10 cm, U = 16,1~V.

50 100
Frequency(Hz)

Figure 6 D e p e n d e n c e o f laser p e a k p o w e r I o n pulse r e p e t i t i o n frequency J" in a laser with L = 30 cm.

F l o w rate, 15 1/min at a pressure o f p = 70 torr, c h a r g i n g voltage U = 18 kV.

it with the average value for the 30 cm laser, which is 480 kW, one obtains an amplifica-
tion factor of 32 db/m, assuming a linear gain-length relationship. The travelling wave
excitation results in a forward-backward ratio of the emission of 1.5 : 1. If we assume
merely a linear relationship between this ratio and the active length, we would expect
at least a ratio of 9 : 1 for an active length of 1.83 m. This is to be compared with the
10 : 1 ratio reported in [4]. The reduction of output power with pulse repetition
frequency for a 30 cm laser is given in Fig. 6 at a flow rate of 15 litres per rain at 70 tort
and at 18 kV. When air was used as the active medium, the output of the 30 cm laser
as a function of air pressure is shown in Fig. 7 and output power versus voltage at
76 tort is shown in Fig. 8. The high power obtained is probably due to the fast risetime
of the exciting current pulse, which is short compared to the collision time. It was
possible to use atmospheric pressure when one of the electrodes of the 30 cm laser was
replaced by a set of 180 steel gramophone needles arranged in three parallel rows
1.7 mm apart with the needle tips 12 man from the counter electrode, similar in design
47
 D. Basting, F. P. Schi(J'er, B. Steyer

300

Air
20 kV

t00

so ~6o ~so 26o

Pressure(Tort)
Figure 7 Laser peak power/versus air pressurep. L = 30 cm, U = 20 kV.

300 Air l

2oo-

100.

1~ 1'6 1'8 20 Petentiel(kV)

Figure 8 Laser p e a k power I versus charging voltage U for a 30 cm laser using air at p = 76 torr.

N~/He-Iatm, 20kV

'•1000
&

=- 500

I0 20 30 40 50 60 70 He:Nz
retio
Figure 9 Laser peak power I versus He : N~-ratio for a 30 cm laser, operating a p = I atrn and U ---
20 kV. Electrode configuration described in text.

to TEA-CO2-1asers. I n this case, however, helium h a d to be added to the nitrogen gas.

Fig. 9 gives the o u t p u t p o w e r versus the He-N~-ratio. A m a x i m u m o f over 1 M W was
reached at a gas c o m p o s i t i o n o f 1 part N~ and 33 parts He. A t lower helium content
48
A simple, high power nitrogen laser

Figure 10 Near field (a) and far field photograph (b) of the output of a 30 cm nitrogen laser operating
atp = 80torrand U = 16kV.

the plasma become filamentary, while at higher helium content the dilution of the
active medium by the helium became important. The above modification allowing
atmospheric pressure operation seems especially promising for small laser-systems not
requiring bulky vacuum pumps and gas bottles.
Finally, Fig. 10 gives the far-field and near-field photographs of the output of the
30 cm laser with solid electrodes. The beam divergence was computed from the linear
dimensions of a photograph of the spot in the focal plane of a lens of a 150 mm focal
length (Fig. 10b). It was found to be 13 mrad in the Vertical and 33 mrad in the
horizontal plane.
Larger versions of the described laser system are presently under construction and
should be capable of powers of over 5 MW.

Acknowledgements
Most of this work was done while the authors were at the Physikalisch-Chemische
Institut of the University of Marburg. The expert technical assistance of the Institute's
mechanical workshop is gratefully acknowledged. This work was supported by the
Fonds der Chemischen Industrie. Thanks are due to Dr M. Piltch for a critical reading
of the manuscript.

References
1. D. A. LEONARD,Appl. Phys. Lett. 7 (1965) 4-6.
2. E. T. GERRY, ibid7 (1965) 6-8.
3. H. G. H E A R D , Nature 200 (1963) 667.
4. J.D. Sn:PMAN, JUN., Appl. Phys. Lett. 10 (1967) 3-4.
5. M. GELLER, D. E. ALTMANN,and T. g. DeTEMPLE, Appl. Opt. 7 (1968) 2232-2237.
6. G. KUSWAand CH. STALLINGS, Rev. Sci. Instr. 41 (1970) 1429-1430.

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