Technique for measuring rotational temperature of microwave excited diatomic sulfur.

A technique has been devised to measure the temperature of discharge excited diatomic sulfur. The bandshape of the transition from the upsilon' = 8 level in the B(3)Sigma(-) electronic state of the upsilon" = 0 level in the X(3)Sigma(-) state is due to unresolved rotational structure. The observed bandshape was compared to the results of a computer simulation that used the line strength factors of Tatum and Watson for spin-rotation coupling intermediate between Hund's cases (a) and (b).

Novel transformer designs for high-power high-repetition-rate applications.

The construction technique and resulting electrical performance of high-voltage impulse transformers for ''pulser-sustained'' laser applications is presented. The compact structures exhibit excellent rise-time and power-handling capacity over a wide range of operating conditions. The distributed core geometry permits impulse power operation at several megawatts within the kilowatt average power regime. Reliable performance at a repetition rate of up to 40 kHz has been demonstrated. These simple condensed winding and torous core devices can be constructed in minutes and at negligible cost.

High-power, high-repetition rate pulser for photo-impulse ionized lasers.

The design and operational parameters of a high-power pulser suitable for a photo-impulse ionized laser are presented. The relatively compact device utilizes a ceramic thyratron in a triggered resonant charging circuit. Efficient operation at repetition rates up to 40 kHz, with pulsed powers in excess of 2 MW and average powers of several kilowatts has been achieved.

Determination of optical irradiance in nonlinear processes.

A method has been developed for experimentally measuring the irradiance (energy per unit area) of optical radiation required to stimulate nonlinear processes. The method involves examining the spatial dependence of the process in the vicinity of a laser beam focus. A laser operating in the lowest order transverse mode is required. The treatment is exact for multiphoton processes in the absence of relaxation of recombination and is approximate for other nonlinear processes.