  The possibility of using an optocoupler "pulsed fiber laser - photo
thyristor" as a switch in excitation circuits of copper vapor lasers (CVL) is
investigated. It is shown that such switch has a nanosecond speed, is able to
pass monopolar or alternating current pulses through CVL with a power of up to
10 MW and a repetition rate of up to tens of kilohertz with an electric
efficiency of excitation circuit of more than 95%. A simple but very accurate
model of photo thyristor is proposed, which can be used in full-scale CVL
modeling programs.
