Thermal Defocusing of a CO2 Laser Beam in Air Doped with SF6

摘要

The transient aspects of the thermal defocusing of a CO2 laser beam (10.6 micrometers) propagating through air doped with SF6 have been studied using an infrared detector and interferometry. A comparison of these results with theory has shown that the defocusing occurring in air is qualitatively similar to that observed at 0.63 micrometers in liquid CCl4 doped with iodine. (Author)