Electrical and gain characteristics of a multiatmosphere UV-preionized CO<inf>2</inf>laser

Abstract

The scaling parameters of a UV-preionized TE CO <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> laser which permit the direct comparison of small-signal gains as a function of laser pressure have been investigated in the pressure range of 4-19 atm. Careful measurements of the gain as a function of laser pressure in both the 9.4 and 10.4 μm vibrational bands were made under the appropriate scaling conditions. A theoretical model for the gain incorporating regular, hot band, and sequence band rotational lines, with proper account taken of non-Lorentzian line overlap effects, predicts the observed pressure dependence of the small-signal gain.