Kinetic coefficients for the active medium of a CO2 laser pumped by an ac electric field

A numerical solution of the Boltzmann equation for the electron distribution function is used to investigate the efficiency of pumping of the active medium in a CO₂ laser by rf and microwave electric fields over a wide range of frequencies ω / p and electric fields E / N. The results are presented as a function of the scaling parameters E₀ / N, ω / p or E₀ / ω, and their range of validity is defined in terms of ω / p.