Study of a Tunable CO2/N2O Medium Pressure Waveguide Laser.

Abstract

The operational characteristics of a CO2 waveguide laser, capable of both inter-line and intra-line tuning, were investigated. This system exhibits an overall simplicity in design and construction. In addition, only inexpensive and readily available materials are required. The range of gas pressure in the discharge extended from 25 Torr to 162 Torr while using a 20/10/70 gas mixture of CO2.N2/He. The P(20) line, which was scanned using piezoelectric transducer, had a tunable linewidth of 215 Mhz. This linewidth was limited by the 220 MHz free spectral range of the cavity. In the multi-line configuration, the maximum output was 7.5 W. A grating was used to achieve inter-line tuning; a total of 50 different lines of the P and R branches of the 10.4 m and 9.4 m lased. A maximum output power of 2.2W, P(20), was achieved durng single line operation. A 9.9/9.8/80.3 gas multi-line configuration a maximum output of 825 mW was achieved. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1983
Accession Number
ADA138076

Entities

People

  • A. R. Bigelow

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Carbon Dioxide Lasers
  • Construction
  • Diagnostic Equipment
  • Discharge Tubes
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Energy Transfer
  • Far Field
  • Frequency
  • Gas Lasers
  • Laser Beams
  • Laser Resonators
  • M Band
  • Materials
  • Piezoelectric Transducers
  • Transducers
  • Waveguides

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Microwave Engineering.
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Directed Energy - Lasers