Pulsed CO2 laser pumped by a longitudinal discharge in an alternating magnetic field
H. Li1, I.N. Konovalov2, Yu.N. Panchenko2,3, A.V. Puchikin2,3, M.V. Andreev3, S.M. Bobrovnikov4,3
1Shenyang Ligong University, Shenyang, China
2High Current Electronics Institute of the Siberian Branch of the RAS, Tomsk, Russia
3National Research Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia
4V.E. Zuev Institute of Atmospheric Optics of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, Tomsk, Russia
Keywords: CO laser, longitudinal discharge, magnetic field, radiation
Abstract
An original technique for pumping a pulsed CO2 laser with a longitudinal discharge in an alternating magnetic field is proposed and implemented. Based on this technique proposed technique, a small CO2 laser with an active medium length of ~ 200 mm, a pulse energy of ~ 30 mJ, and an efficiency of 3.4% is designed. It is revealed that the main factor which limits the generation energy of small lasers is the development of current instabilities in a longitudinal discharge across a cross section of the discharge tube. It is noted that the growth of instabilities accelerates with increasing pressure of a CO2 : N2 : H2 : He gas mixture to more than 0.1 atm and the specific pump power to more than 3 MW/cm3. The use of an external alternating magnetic field superimposed on a pulsed longitudinal discharge makes it possible to increase the total pressure of the gas mixture in the laser to 0.4 atm while maintaining the combustion of the volume discharge.
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