Theoretical Investigation of the Laser Amplification Properties of a Continuous Wave, Electrical Discharge Laser (CW-EDL).
Abstract
A rigorously-derived paraxial approximation based on scaling the coordinates of the wave equation in terms of natural parameters of the system under consideration was used to study the behavior of a continuous-wave electric discharge (CW-EDL) laser medium considered as an amplifier for the effects of diffraction, saturation, and detuning of the operating frequency from the center of the gain line, on the quality of the propagating beam. Computer-generated results showed no serious beam degradation from these effects was to be expected in the system when treated as an amplifier. This formulation was then used, subject to the constraints of the unstable resonator optical cavity, to treat the system as an oscillator, assuming cylindrical symmetry in the loaded resonator. Near-field phase and intensity patterns were obtained by computer, and used to generate far-field patterns. This computer-modelling of the unstable resonator with continuous gain medium is compared to computer models developed by others. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1976
- Accession Number
- ADA031011
Entities
People
- C. H. Chan
- W. B. Mcknight
Organizations
- University of Alabama in Huntsville