Formation properties of the main-discharge in pure Ar gas using the automatically preionized plasma electrode

In order to develop the discharge-pumped Ar/sub 2//sup */ excimer laser, images of discharge properties in relatively low-pressure (1/spl sim/5 atm) pure Ar gas were obtained using the automatically preionized (API) plasma electrode. The API plasma electrode has a rod-type preionization electrode covered with a ceramic pipe as dielectric and is 74 cm long. The effect of the dielectric capacitance of the ceramic pipe on the API plasma electrode is determined.