Abstract
THE homopolar generator1,2 at the Australian National University in Canberra can be connected to deliver 1.5 × 106 A at more than 800 V for 0.1 s. When light sources capable of handling such power and energy are developed, it will be possible to use the energy to pump a large laser. We have used the generator with its four disks in series to power a co-axial discharge tube filled with xenon at a pressure of 30 cm of mercury. During a pulse lasting for 7.5 ms we injected 6,000 J/inch into the flash tube which enclosed a Nd glass laser rod 0.5 inches in diameter and 6 inches long. The fluorescent lifetime of the glass is quoted as 360 µs. A record of the radiation intensity is shown in Fig. 1. The decrease in intensity with time was caused by the current being reduced by a variable resistor in series with the lamp, increasing in preparation for the termination of the pulse. If the laser assembly could stand it, a pulse of this power could be supplied for 50 s from the generator.
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Blamey, J. W., Garden, P. O., Hibbard, L. U., Inall, E. K., Marshall, R. A., and Oliphant, M., Nature, 195, 113 (1962).
Inall, E. K., Atomic Energy in Austral., 8, No.2, 2 (1965).
Marshall, R. A., Nature, 204, 1079 (1964).
Marshall, R. A., IEEE Trans. Pwr. Appr. Systems, PAS 85, 1187 (1966).
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INALL, E., HUGHES, J. Homopolar Generator as the Energy Store for a Large Laser. Nature 220, 1121 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/2201121a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2201121a0
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