Enhancement of the continuous VUV emission of argon and xenon dimers in a supersonic expansion

The continuous vacuum ultra-violet (VUV) emission enhancement of argon (Ar2*) and xenon (Xe2*) is reported. In the case of Ar2* the spectral distribution o VUV radiation under the conditions of a negative voltage dc discharge with supersonic expansion was obtained. A gain of 2.77 cm−1 of the singlet excimer transition (~ 126 nm) was measured in a multi-nozzle setup. In addition, strong emission of the Xe2* singlet state was also observed in a single supersonic nozzle, which was higher than the Ar2* emission, indicating a strong possibility of a laser operation in a novel multi-nozzle setup and a proper evacuating system.