Abstract
To reduce the load of switching devices and elongate the lifetime of the circuits, we have successfully developed a new type of the excitation circuit named “pre-charging circuit”. In this circuit, peaking capacitor is divided in two stages which are connected in series. The one capacitor is charged pulsively, while the another by DC. Increasing DC voltage, we are able to reduce the pulse voltage, resulting in the reduction of the load at the switch. The performance of this circuit is evaluated at the gas pressure of 760 Torr. The laser output of_??_4.5 J and total efficiency of_??_11% are obtained. With a semiconductor switch, we have obtained_??_1.3 J of the laser output and_??_6% of the total efficiency at the gas pressure of 400 Torn
