Development of 200W High-Performance Copper Vapor Laser with 6cm Diameter, 300 cm Length.

Abstract

A copper vapor laser (CVL) with 6 cm diameter and 300 cm discharge length has been developed for atomic vapor laser isotope separations. Recently, output power of over 200 W (211 W maximum) has been steadily obtained. The authors developed a thermal calculation code to maintain an optimum copper vapor density throughout a large volume and a discharge analyzing code to supply discharge energy efficiently into the laser tube. Connecting these codes to Kushner's CVL simulation method yields results which agree well with experimental results. And high-performance CVL could be designed by these codes which simulated the thermal and electrical characteristics of a CVL. In addition, a new thermal insulation structure design method has been proposed to combine two different heat insulators to make longitudinal temperature distribution of the laser tube as flat as possible. A CVL discharge circuit has been improved by applying an excellent magnetic assist which has been able to operate at high repetition rate (5 kHz) oscillating condition. This paper reports such CVL design methods together with the performance of the designed high-power CVL.