Investigation of the optical quality of the active medium of high-power cw chemical HF lasers by lateral-shearing interferometric methods

An experimental investigation was made of the optical quality of the active media of cw chemical HF lasers delivering powers from 20 to 400 kW. An original method based on lateral-shearing interferometry was proposed. The investigation was concentrated on small-scale periodic inhomogeneities resulting from the design features of the nozzle arrays.