Abstract
Megawatt peak powers have recently been reported from a pulsed electrical discharge CO2 laser operating at atmospheric pressure [A. J. Beaulieu, Laser Focus 6, 14 (1970)]. The electrical discharge was struck across the transverse dimension of the laser producing the large electric field strengths required for laser excitation at high gas pressures. This paper describes the small signal gain, pulse energy, and duration as a function of gas pressure and discharge voltage of a 1.5-m laser tube utilizing 60 separate capacitor discharges along the axis of the tube. The gain coefficient is of the order of 1% per cm or less, typical of dc excited CO2 lasers. The peak power increases approximately as the square of the total gas pressure as a result of an increase in pulse energy and decrease in pulse duration with gas pressure.
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