Effects of Pulsing a CO2 Laser Amplifier.
Abstract
The pulsed CO2 discharge has been studied to determine the gain available for laser amplification at 10.6 microns. Negative gain was observed following the termination of the first voltage pulse on a pure CO2 gas sample but on repetitive pulsing positive gain is observed both in the active discharge and the afterglow. A combination of microwave and optical gain measurements show that an electron impact excitation of the bending mode of the CO2 molecule can bottleneck the decay of the laser level. The evolution of CO from the gas sample on repetitive pulsing is shown to affect the gain behavior. The work reported can explain discrepancies in the literature concerning determination of the lower laser level lifetime by pulsed discharge and induced fluorescence techniques. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1971
- Accession Number
- AD0737173
Entities
People
- Ernest H. Holt
- Jack H. Noon
- Paul R. Blaszuk
- Rudolf G. Buser
Organizations
- United States Army Communications-Electronics Command