A Discharge-Excited SrBr₂ Vapor Laser

A new-style discharge tube for a metal vapor laser has been designed and built. SrBr₂ was successfully used to replace metal Strontium as a working medium, and multi-line laser oscillations from resonance to metastable transition of strontium atoms (6.45μm), ions (1.03μm/1.09μm) and from strontium ion recombination (416.2 nm/430.5 nm) have been obtained through longitudinal pulsed discharge. The problem of an incompatibility reaction between metallic strontium and the discharge tube in the strontium vapor laser was solved. Some proposals are presented for further developments of strontium halide lasers.