Discharge characteristics of SF₆/C₂H₆ working mixture in electric-initiated pulsed HF laser

Typical spatial distribution of the discharge plasma fluorescence and temporal evolutions of the discharge current and voltage in SF6/C2H6 mixture have been measured, which serves as the working gas of the discharge-pumped pulsed HF laser. Discharge stability, residual voltage and energy deposition efficiency were systematically analyzed by changing the initial conditions. It is shown that the process of discharge in the gas mixture has three phases: main discharge, voltage plateau and arc discharge, each of which has different discharge characters. Deposited energy in the gas mixture increases with the increase of charge voltage, but the duration of voltage plateau would be shortened. The raise in C2H6 concentration will postpone the