CuBr laser with a reduced energy input into a discharge

The operation of a CuBr laser with a small volume of the active medium for a reduced energy input into a discharge was studied. It was shown that switching the commutator to a smaller operating capacitor for a short time permits a 2.3-fold reduction (relative to the typical operating mode) of the power supplied to the discharge without sacrificing any output laser power. By the application of an additional 'dissociating' pulse, a stationary mode of laser operation was realised, whereby the pump pulse energy was lowered by a factor of 10 without loss in the output power. (lasers)