HIGH-POWER CO2 ELECTRIC DISCHARGE MIXING LASER
- 1 November 1970
- journal article
- research article
- Published by AIP Publishing in Applied Physics Letters
- Vol. 17 (9) , 388-391
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1653448
Abstract
An electric discharge mixing laser is described in which N2 is vibrationally excited in an electrical discharge and then mixed with cold CO2 providing a population inversion and, consequently, lasing action at 10.6μ in a high‐pressure high‐flow speed channel. Convection is the principle heat removal mechanism, permitting system operation at power densities substantially higher than in conventional wall‐dominated electric discharge lasers. Results of experiments with a 30‐cm‐wide by 1.2‐cm‐high EDML channel are described. With this system, small‐signal gain coefficients of 4.3% cm−1 and optical powers of up to 900 W at 11% efficiency have been obtained at a pressure of 48 Torr.Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- KILOWATT CO2 GAS-TRANSPORT LASERApplied Physics Letters, 1969
- Vibrational Energy Transfer in CO2 LasersThe Journal of Chemical Physics, 1967