Abstract

During the past few years there has been considerable progress in the development of rf wave- guide CO2 lasers. Using this excitation technique, cw specific output powers of 0.66-W cm^-1 single mode at 10% conversion efficiency have been reported for sealed devices,¹ while high-repetition rate pulsed output and multiatmospheric pressure operation have also been achieved.² The rf frequencies involved in this work are in the 40- 200-MHz range. We report experimental results on the variation in laser performance with frequency in this range. As the frequency is increased, the wave nature of the electric field becomes increasingly important, leading to art increased requirement to minimize the extent of transverse voltage variation along the standing wave.

© 1983 Optical Society of America