Modeling the self-sustained discharge-excited XeCl laser in two dimensions

A two-dimensional discharge model is described and applied to a transverse discharge-excited xenon chloride (XeCl) excimer laser. Electron discharge instabilities in the XeCl laser are investigated. An overview of the mechanisms of XeCl lasers is given while details of the five submodels of the discharge model are described and unified for further clarification. Three electrode configurations and their electric field distribution profiles are evaluated and compared. XeCl laser operations with pulses of 200 nanosecond duration and longer are investigated for output relation to electrode design and choice of field profile.