Gas-discharge CO laser with a high specific output energy

An experimental and theoretical investigation was made of a longitudinal-discharge CO laser with a high continuous flow rate. The following output parameters were obtained experimentally for helium-enriched mixtures: specific output energy 550 J/g, efficiency 30 %, small-signal gain 2 m^–1, continuous output power 700 W. Lasing with an efficiency of 20 % was observed in a mixture with argon instead of helium. The calculation model proposed for the CO laser was in satisfactory agreement with the experiment.