Electrical excitation of an XeCl laser using magnetic pulse compression

Excitation of a small repetitively pulsed XeCl laser by a magnetic pulse compressor (MPC) is reported. The MPC makes use of a saturable inductor constructed out of relatively low frequency ferrites. It compresses a 300-ns pulse into a 50-ns pulse, enabling a low di/dt, long life thyratron to drive a fast discharge laser. The laser has operated at 750 Hz for several hours with an average optical output power of 3.5 W.