Single Nanosecond Pulse Generation from a Mode Locked Tea CO2 Laser

摘要

The isolation of a single pulse from a transversely excited atmospheric (TEA) CO2 laser, actively mode locked by an acoustic loss modulator, is described. The single pulse selection has been achieved with the aid of a gallium arsenide electrooptic shutter located either inside or outside the laser resonator. Pulses of 1 megawatt peak power and 2 nanosecond duration have been recorded with instrument limited precision. The availability of such pulses uncovers new possibilities for the investigation of laser-matter interactions at 10.6 microns. (Author)