A simple two-stage cascading spark gap for ultraviolet preionized transversely excited atmospheric CO2 lasers.

A simple trigatron spark-gap chamber is modified to accommodate two cascading highvoltage breakdowns, separated by the time lag of the second spark formation. The time lag is employed as a temporal delay for synchronizing the ultraviolet preionization and the main discharge in the transversely excited atmospheric CO[sub 2] laser. Owing to prompt triggering and in situ preionization of the second breakdown, reliable delay up to 500 ns is possible by simply varying the separation of the second spark-gap electrode to that of the first spark gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]