Abstract
We have investigated the operating characteristics of a X-ray preionized Kr F laser as a function of preionization electron density. Under normal conditions, a flash X-ray preionizer created an initial electron number density of 5×106 cm-3 in a Kr F laser gas mixture. The Kr F laser energy increased with increasing the initial electron density from 105 cm-3 to 107 cm-3 studied. X-ray preionization is found to be more effective in gas lasers containing higher z-number atoms, because more preionization electrons can be efficiently created in such laser gases due to their large X-ray photon absorption cross-sections.
