Operational characteristics of a TE CW CO/sub 2/ laser with a DC auxiliary discharge

Journal Article · Sun Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1987 · IEEE J. Quant. Electron.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5525325

Wu, K H

This paper describes a TW CW CO/sub 2/ laser with a special gas flow scheme and an auxiliary discharge configuration. In this laser system, mixed gas was forced to flow through a structure of square tubes with meshes on both sides. An array of auxiliary electrodes was added to produce a dc auxiliary discharge between these electrodes and a tubular cathode. By introducing these structures, uniformity and stability of the main discharge could be significantly improved, and more electrical input power could be deposited into the laser gases at higher pressures and higher discharge currents. An output power exceeding 3000 W/m was obtained at a gas mixture of CO:CO/sub 2/:N/sub 2/:He = 4:10:25:40 and a total pressure of 7.9 kPa. Without the auxiliary discharge, the maximum output power was less than 1600 W/m, and a stable discharge could not be obtained at a pressure above 4kPa. The spatial distributions of unsaturated gain along the direction of gas flow and contours with constant gain were also drawn. By introducing molecular sieve 3A, the system could be operated continuously over 15 h under sealed-off conditions.

• Research Organization: Dept. of Electrophysics, National Chiao Tung Univ., Hsinchu 30049
• OSTI ID: 5525325
• Journal Information: IEEE J. Quant. Electron.; (United States), Journal Name: IEEE J. Quant. Electron.; (United States) Vol. QE-23:11; ISSN IEJQA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
420300* -- Engineering-- Lasers-- (-1989)
ADSORBENTS
AMPLIFICATION
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE LASERS
CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CURRENTS
DESIGN
DIRECT CURRENT
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
ELECTRIC DISCHARGES
ELECTRODES
ELEMENTS
FLUID FLOW
FLUIDS
GAIN
GAS FLOW
GAS LASERS
GASES
HELIUM
LASERS
MOLECULAR SIEVES
NITROGEN
NONMETALS
OPERATION
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RARE GASES