BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS: Relaxation processes in the discharge used in a copper halide laser
A spectrographic investigation was made of the radiation emitted from pulse discharges in mixtures of CuBr and CuI with Ne and He. The dependence of the relative intensity of the molecular spectrum on the discharge conditions and the time characteristics of the deexcitation of the resonance and laser lines of Cu I were determined. Prolonged afterglow due to the 3d10nx–3d10 4p2 P03/2,1/2 and 3d10nx–4s2 2D3/2,5/2 in Cu I was observed. The possibility that the discharge contraction was due to an increase in the importance of the dissociative recombination processes was considered. It was concluded that cooling of electrons played an important role in the deactivation of the metastable states of Cu I.