Subnanosecond multi-gigawatt CO/sub 2/ laser

A semiconductor switching technique has been utilized to produce 30-300 ps variable duration CO/sub 2/ laser pulses of 0.5-MW peak power. Eight passes through a 1.2-m long, UV-preionized, 3-atm TE CO/sub 2/ amplifier raise the output laser peak power to the 10/sup 10/ W level. Sampling the amplifier...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIEEE journal of quantum electronics Vol. 31; no. 3; pp. 556 - 566
Main Authors Pogorelsky, I.V., Fischer, J., Kusche, K.P., Babzien, M., Kurnit, N.A., Bigio, I.J., Harrison, R.F., Shimada, T.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 01.03.1995
Subjects
Gain
Laser modes
Optical pulses
Power amplifiers
Power lasers
Power semiconductor switches
Pulse amplifiers
Sampling methods
Semiconductor lasers
Tellurium
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Summary:A semiconductor switching technique has been utilized to produce 30-300 ps variable duration CO/sub 2/ laser pulses of 0.5-MW peak power. Eight passes through a 1.2-m long, UV-preionized, 3-atm TE CO/sub 2/ amplifier raise the output laser peak power to the 10/sup 10/ W level. Sampling the amplifier gain in linear and saturated regimes using CO/sub 2/ laser radiation ranging from CW to 30 ps pulse length permits comparison with computer modeling of picosecond CO/sub 2/ pulse amplification. The potential for further peak power scaling of picosecond molecular lasers is discussed.< >
ISSN:0018-9197
1558-1713
DOI:10.1109/3.364413