Stable single-frequency carbon dioxide lasers

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Abstract
Describes the design and performance of a sealed-off, single-frequency, single-mode CO2 laser. Similar lasers were used in the latest measurement of the speed of light, by the c=f lambda method, at the NPL and now provide an output power of 8-12 W over many of the lasing transitions. Using a stabilization technique, employing carbon dioxide as a saturable absorber, a frequency stability of better than +or-1 part in 1010 over a 1 s measurement time and frequency reproducibility of better than +or-2 parts in 1010 have been achieved.