Excitation of copper vapor lasers by direct discharge of storage capacitor via the high-speed photothyristors

TL;DR

This paper explores using an optocoupler-based photo thyristor switch for copper vapor laser excitation, achieving high-speed switching with high efficiency and modeling capabilities.

Contribution

It introduces a nanosecond-speed optocoupler switch for CVL excitation and a precise model for full-scale laser circuit simulations.

Findings

Switch passes up to 10 MW pulses

Achieves excitation efficiency over 95%

Supports repetition rates up to tens of kHz

Abstract

The possibility of using an optocoupler "pulsed fiber laser - photo thyristor" as a switch in excitation circuits of copper vapor lasers (CVL) is investigated. It is shown that such switch has a nanosecond speed, is able to pass monopolar or alternating current pulses through CVL with a power of up to 10 MW and a repetition rate of up to tens of kilohertz with an electric efficiency of excitation circuit of more than 95%. A simple but very accurate model of photo thyristor is proposed, which can be used in full-scale CVL modeling programs.