Abstract

A study of high-current short-pulse flashtubes operating in (or near) the ablation regime is presented. It is shown that the behavior of such tubes is well represented by an analysis in which the discharge plasma is supposed to radiate as a blackbody. In particular, the analysis accounts for the fact that the light output from the flashtube tends to saturate as a function of the input energy, whereas the discharge current does not. This approach allows the development of a useful representation of the operating characteristics of this type of flashtube in terms of the energy input to unit volume of the plasma. Design criteria are developed for the diameter and radius of such flashtubes to ensure high light output without causing excessive ablation of the capillary wall material.

© 1977 Optical Society of America

Ablative flashlamps for high peak power dye lasers

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