Small-signal gain measurements and vibrational distribution in CO

Abstract

Small-signal gain measurements on a large number of vibrational-rotational lines in a CO-laser plasma have led to the vibrational distribution from the <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">\upsilon = 2</tex> to <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">\upsilon = 31</tex> level. The relative influence of V-V and V-T relaxation processes is discussed.