Abstract

High-average-power operation of pulsed gas lasers such as excimer, TEA CO₂, and copper vapor requires high-voltage pulsers with good reliability and relatively low cost, capable of sustained operation at kilohertz repetition rates. Use of thyratron pulsers is an established excitation method, still subject to Improvement, but the lifetime of the thyratron becomes a problem when very high repetition rates and heavy electrical loadings are required simultaneously. Interest is currently being shown in solid-state circuits as an alternative to the thyratron, using thyristors as the primary switch, followed by a pulse transformer and a multistage magnetic pulse compression line to increase the peak power and voltage to the levels needed by gas lasers.^1,2

© 1986 Optical Society of America