Design of efficient transversely excited sequence CO2 lasers

摘要

Design criteria for the construction of high‐energy transversely excited (TE) sequence CO2 lasers are presented. It is demonstrated that intracavity hot CO2 cells are a simple and efficient means of converting conventional TE CO2 lasers to operation on the sequence transitions. Sequence output energies of 6 J per pulse have been obtained from a 1‐m discharge. Factors such as hot cell pressure and degree of excitation in the discharge are shown to be important considerations in the design of TE sequence lasers. Possible applications of high power sequence lasers are discussed.