Abstract

A CO₂ laser may oscillate at any one of many possible lines. As the cavity length of such a laser is varied over a distance of λ/2, a large number of lines oscillate one at a time in succession. The listing of the identities of the sequences of lines constitutes a signature of the laser and is a matter of practical importance in the operation of these lasers in remote controlled applications without the use of mode-selecting elements in the cavity of the laser. We report here a rather remarkable result, namely, that the lines P(20) and P(16) of the 10.4-μm band compete so effectively relative to all the other modes that they can be relied on to oscillate over quite a wide gain curve and for a wide range of operating conditions.

© 1971 Optical Society of America

Use of CO and CO₂ Lasers to Detect Pollutants in the Atmosphere

R. T. Menzies
Appl. Opt. 10(7) 1532-1538 (1971)

Quenching of Infrared Chemiluminescence. 1: The Rates of De-Excitation of CO (4 ≤ v ≤ 13) by He, CO, NO, N₂, O₂, OCS, N₂O, and CO₂

G. Hancock and I. W. M. Smith
Appl. Opt. 10(8) 1827-1842 (1971)

Population Inversion and Energy Transfer in CO Lasers

J. T. Yardley
Appl. Opt. 10(8) 1760-1767 (1971)

CO₂ Laser with Simultaneous Active and Passive Q-Switching

O. M. Stafsudd, O. Ersoy, and S. Pizzica
Appl. Opt. 10(1) 141-143 (1971)

A Precision Variable, Double Prism Attenuator for CO₂ Lasers

T. Oseki and S. Saito
Appl. Opt. 10(1) 144-149 (1971)