Modeling of the active medium of an argon hydride exciplex laser

A model is constructed for the plasma-chemical reactions in an Ar–H2 mixture and numerical calculations are presented for the active medium of an exciplex laser utilizing this mixture under small-signal amplification and lasing conditions. It is found that a laser with an efficiency of ~ 7% may be developed with an argon density of ~ 1020 cm−3 and a hydrogen density of ~ 018 cm−3 pumped by an electron beam with a current density of ~ 250 A/cm2 or a proton beam with a current density of ~ 2 A/cm2 and a particle energy of ~ 300 keV. The characteristics of the active medium may be improved by heating the mixture to ~ 150°C. A helium buffer does not produce any improvement.