The operating characteristics of a multikilowatt unstable resonator CO laser are described. A positive-branch confocal unstable resonator was applied to a large-volume, transverse, self-sustained dc glow discharge-excited cw CO laser with a closed-cycle, subsonic gas flow. Output power and near-field beam properties were measured for various geometrical output couplings. An output of 5.0 kW has been obtained for a coupling of 0.25 (magnification M=1.16) with an electrical conversion efficiency of 16.9%. It has been revealed that the output from the unstable resonator is comparably high to that from the stable resonator under the same gas and discharge conditions. The output beam patterns and the sensitivity of power to angular misalignment of the mirrors are also reported.

Date Published: 1 February 1991
PDF: 5 pages
Proc. SPIE 1397, 8th Intl Symp on Gas Flow and Chemical Lasers, (1 February 1991); doi: 10.1117/12.25905

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1397:
8th Intl Symp on Gas Flow and Chemical Lasers
Concepcion Maroto Domingo; Jose M. Orza, Editor(s)