Abstract

Electron-beam-pumped rare gas excimer lasers have been developed to generate high power coherent radiation in the VUV spectral region. For this purpose various materials, such as a SiO₂ plate, single crystal Si, single crystal Mo, SiC film, and MgF₂ plate, were tested as cavity mirrors which were highly resistant to optical damage by intense VUV radiation in the laser cavity. Lasing conditions of our rare gas excimer lasers are summarized in Table I with relation to various cavity compositions. The maximum high power output was achieved with 16 MW at 126 nm for an Ar excimer laser¹ and 7 MW at 146 nm for a Kr excimer laser,² respectively. With .a SiC back mirror for the Ar excimer laser and a Si back mirror for Kr, a MgF₂ output mirror for both was used to make the cavity.

© 1989 Optical Society of America