A novel technique for synchronization of pre-ionizing and pumping currents for operation of high-pressure TEA CO2 lasers

The authors report a novel means of achieving synchronization between the pre- and main discharges, a pre-requisite for reliable operation of UV pre-ionized TEA CO2 lasers, by utilizing only a coupling inductance between these two discharge circuits. The inductance, whose value may be a few tens of mu H, can be constructed in the laboratory simply by winding a few turns of ordinary wire on any insulator.