This head showed up, was presented as a CO2 laser. First looking at it, I thought, Good! a TEA CO2, just what I have always wanted after previously having a smaller one.
It turned out to be an excimer unit, from Coherent. What I know is the gas has been removed but believe it was a --Fl compound, the engr. said it was unlikely a XeCl unit.. This kind operates at ~3 ATM pressure, 12ns pulse, 500-1000 pps, about 5-10mJ/1, and has a peak power of maybe1000KW. Can't be more specific, even Coherent could not specifically identify this precisely since the rest of the laser product is missing (case, 2KV DC supply, dataplate, controls, etc..). What is pictured is the charge/pulser for firing (thyristor for long life in this one instead of a spark gap) and the cavity including FC and OC. The small steel tube is the gas port, the 'hole' is probably an internal boss holding the septum (engr. didn't know). Cooling is conduction/convection. Inside is a recirculating blower to maintain a high clearing ratio, a filter, and electrostatic cleaner. It is a TE unit with a ceramic pre-ionizer. It was made for very long life. I don't know it s condition but it looks really clean in the cavity. The attached documets may not be for this head, as Coherent could not properly identify it.
Well and good and I'm not disappointed but I don't really need an excimer laser, was wanting a CO2 really. Still, too cool to scrap and I have to wonder if it could be filled with N2 which is safer than the other gases and with manual controls work well enough for hobby use. Thought it would be interesting to show it. Maybe someone here has worked with these and can offer accurate information about it.