Pulsed operation of a TEA CO2 laser under the conditions of the growth of an optical inhomogeneity of the active medium at high specific pump energies

A CO₂ laser system with self-modulation of the intracavity losses was developed. This system was capable of generating efficiently pulses free of a radiation 'tail' typical for CO₂ lasers. A simple method was used to detect the optical inhomogeneity of the medium of a gas-discharge TEA module. The results of the measurements are presented.