High-power molecular lasers pumped by a volume self-sustained discharge

Abstract

The basic principles that underlie the initiation of a volume self-sustained discharge, which is to be used for pumping CO2 and N2O lasers, are discussed. The experimental results for discharge stability, optical homogeneity, and scalability of the laser active medium are reported. Characteristics of CO2 lasers with apertures of up to 70 cm and active volumes of up to 400 L, as well as of N2O lasers with apertures of up to 20 cm and active volumes of up to 60 L, are presented.