Conditions for the ignition of a transverse discharge with prebreakdown multiplication of electrons in the active media of gas lasers

Conditions for the generation of a stable transverse discharge with prebreakdown ionisation multiplication of electrons in the active media of recombination — collisional He and Ne atomic lasers, a chemical nonchain-reaction HF laser, and an electric-discharge N₂ laser were investigated. It was found that a transverse discharge with prebreakdown ionisation multiplication of electrons was ignited in a narrow range of supply voltages applied to mixtures of He and Ne with SF₆, F₂, and HCl molecules at a pressure p = 5 — 150 kPa and in the SF₆ — H₂ (p ≤ 2 kPa) and He — N₂ — SF₆ (p ≤ 50 kPa) mixtures. This discharge was characterised by an increased spatial homogeneity and a low charging voltage (2 — 15 kV). Such a discharge is of interest in the development of electric-discharge atomic He and Ne plasma lasers and also for its employment as a predischarge in volume preionisers of wide-aperture laser oscillators.