A 490-nm XeF electric discharge laser

Abstract

Lasing at 490 nm in the broadband XeF (C 3/2→A 3/2) transition has been achieved in He/Xe/NF3 gas mixtures excited by a uv preionized electric discharge. Measurements of the C→A laser spectrum show a bandwidth of approximately 40 nm centered around 490 nm, indicating that the laser should be tunable over a wide spectral region in the visible.