This program will investigate continuous wave UV/VUV lasers operating in the 150-300 nm region, where presently no such lasers exist. A new discharge will be used, the low pressure cyclindrical magnetron, to pump rare gas metal vapor lasers: Ag+, Cu+, Pb+, Mg+ and Ga+. The magnetron discharge is considered to be especially well suited to rare gas-metal vapor lasers. Running on their own the magnetron lasers are expected to provide milliwatts of single transverse mode UV, while the use of auxillary low energy 0.1 KeV - 1 KeV electron beam pumping should enable UV/VUV operation at the watt level. Cold cathode, grided cold cathode, and plasma cathode electron guns will be used for low voltage 0.1 KeV - 1 KeV electron beam generation. Detailed plasma diagnostic studies will be made of both the independent magentron discharge and the electron beam pumped magnetron plasma. The energy spectrum of the longitudinal electron beam will be measured along the length of the magnetron discharge using newly developed Faraday probes with apertures and grids. Laser spectroscopy will measure sheath electric fields and excited state densities versus operating conditions. Plasma data will be compared to Boltzmann computer models developed especially for the magnetron plasma. Rate equation laser models will be constructed and results compared to experimental optimization of these same lasers excited in the cyclindrical magnetron configuration.
