A joule level of XeF(C-A) laser optically pumped by a sectioned
surface discharge was developed. The irradiative intensity of pumping
source was diagnosed by calculating XeF2 photo-dissociation
wave evolvement which was photographed by a framing camera. The photon
flux in the wavelength region of 140 to 170nm is about 5 ×
1023 photon s−1cm−2, that
corresponds to the irradiative brightness temperature of more than 25000
K. The laser experiments were carried out in different conditions. The
maximum laser output energy of 2.5 J was obtained with the total
conversion efficiency of 0.1%.