A high-power polarised coherent TE N₂laser

Abstract

A design of an oscillator-amplifier system in the TE N2 laser is described. Three laser channels: an oscillator, preamplifier and main amplifier, are connected to a common spark gap, and the discharge timing of these channels is adjusted by varying the pressure of the gas in the cavities. The characteristics of the laser light obtained from this laser system are an output power of 400 kW, a pulse width of 5 ns, a single transverse mode and a beam divergence of 1 mrad. Completely polarised laser light is extracted by inserting a polarising prism.