Solid-state 263-nm laser for triggering high-voltage switches at Sandia's Z-Accelerator

Summary form only given. We designed, built, and tested a Nd/sup 3+/ laser that produced near diffraction-limited, 2.4-J pulses at the harmonically-converted wavelength of 263 nm. This laser is slated to be reactivated at Sandia's Z-Accelerator NM to improve triggering of the Z-Accelerator's thirty-six SF/sub 6/-filled, high-voltage switches. The switches deliver currents of several MA to electric discharges, called Z-pinches, which generate intense X-rays used to to perform high-energy-density experiments.