Abstract

We investigate the possibility of increased tuning range of waveguide CO₂ lasers by using a longer discharge and a tilted intracavity etalon as axial mode selector. Taking into account etalon losses, the tuning range was calculated as a function of laser gain, pressure, and discharge length. Improvements depend strongly on the index of refraction and the absorbtivity of the etalon material. The comparison with a length-restricted laser without mode selection shows that the use of a CdTe etalon in a laser with 25-cm active length could increase the tuning range from 1.5 GHz to 2.2 GHz. However, an air etalon reduces the bandwidth due to higher tilting losses.

© 1975 Optical Society of America

Tuning of a Dye Laser by a Birefringent Fabry-Perot Etalon

Masakatsu Okada, Satoshi Shimizu, and Shogo leiri
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Precision Beam Splitters for CO₂ Lasers

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Tunable Single Mode Operation of Gas Lasers Using Intracavity Tilted Etalons

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