Abstract
Experimental observations on the mode structure and beam divergence of a large-bore high-power argon ion laser are discussed. The gain medium, 185 cm in length and 12 mm in diameter, is capable of generating a steady-state multiline multimode laser output of more than 125 W in the blue-green. Various stable resonance cavity configurations have been investigated. Littrow prism and small aperture have also been used to obtain single-line and low-order transverse mode operations, respectively. The beam intensity profiles at two widely separated distances from the output coupling mirror are measured by scanning the beam across a small aperture affixed to a photodetector, using a rotating mirror. The two measured beam diameters are found to increase with the transverse mode volume (or output power) at a nearly constant ratio. The far-field beam divergence angle deduced from these measurements is found to vary linearly with the initial beam diameter and to be of the order of 1 mrad at the highest output power.
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