Properties of radiation emitted by an oxygen–iodine chemical laser with an unstable telescopic resonator and an exit mirror with a Gaussian reflectivity profile

A numerical study is reported of the spatial distribution of the radiation emitted by an oxygen–iodine chemical laser with an unstable telescopic resonator and an exit mirror with a Gaussian reflectivity profile. The results show that a resonator of this kind with parameters of practical interest generates a smooth field which fills well the resonator aperture. The field in the far-field zone is concentrated in one peak with a width close to the diffraction limit. The results demonstrate that such a resonator should have a positive influence on the quality of the output radiation also in the case of other gas-flow lasers with a previously established population inversion.