Pulsed Metal Vapor Lasers

The principal effort of this phase of the program has been directed toward an attempt to demonstrate a bismuth vapor laser emitting at 4722 A. This has involved some fundamental spectroscopic studies of bismuth and copper vapor discharges and a copper vapor laser. This goal has also required substantial effort directed toward developing a fast risetime discharge in the bismuth vapor and improving the operation of the bismuth vapor generator. Finally, work was also done to extend the operating time of the quenching spark gaps at high repetition rates and power levels for application to the metal vapor lasers.