Waveguide N2 laser

An investigation was made of the spatial characteristics of a waveguide N₂ laser with different types of resonator and methods of pumping. The "mode filter" resonator configuration used in a waveguide N₂ laser was found to be highly selective and produced a single-mode lasing regime. The temporal characteristics of a waveguide N₂ laser pumped by a creeping surface discharge were investigated. Two laser output peaks appeared at different times, corresponding to two stages of the creeping discharge. The dependences of the average power of a pulse-periodic N₂ laser on the pulse-repetition frequency were determined for capillaries of different diameters. Small-diameter capillaries were preferred for attaining the highest lasing pulse-repetition frequency.