Behavior of first- and second-positive emission in the N2/SF6laser

Experimental results for the behavior of the emission of the discharge-excited first- and second-positive bands of N
2
and flow-tube measurements for the deactivation of the
A^{3}\Sigma\min{u}\max{+}
and
B^{3}\Pi_{g}
levels of N
2
by SF
6
are presented. The results of both these experiments are used to explain the operating mechanisms of the N
2
/SF
6
laser.