Influence of the electrophysical processes in the discharge circuit on the energy characteristics of a copper vapor laser

The influence of the electrode arrangement in the gas-discharge tube (GDT) on the electrophysical processes in the discharge circuit is considered. The equivalent GDT circuit and the mechanism of its transformation depending on the electrode arrangement in the cold buffer or hot discharge channel zones are designed. The breakdown mechanism at the GDT channel ends is considered. It is demonstrated that the breakdown can be considered as the time moment since which the voltage is redistributed between the GDT ends and the active medium in favor of the last. A high relaxation rate of metastable copper atom states in the near afterglow is caused by ionization electron cooling in the active medium. In this case, the energy stored in the reactive components of the discharge circuit impedance during this time period is dissipated in the cold buffer zones. The energy is dissipated in the cold buffer zones until the time when the plasma resistance at the discharge channel ends reaches the value starting from which the duct capacitive components of the GDT shunt the cold buffer zones. As a result, a high-frequency circuit is formed, and the energy is further dissipated in the active medium. This reduces the relaxation rate of the metastable states during the time period between pulses and determines the characteristic bend in the time dependence of the metastable state population density determining the time moment of forming the high-frequency circuit.