Transversely excited CO2 lidar laser tunable over lines of regular and nontraditional bands

An account is given of the design characteristics of a transversely excited CO₂ laser with automated tuning over the lines in regular (00⁰1-10⁰0, 00⁰1–02⁰0) and nontraditional (00⁰2–10⁰1, 00⁰2–02⁰1, 01¹1–11¹0) bands, developed specially for sounding of the atmosphere. Measurements of the small-signal gain and an experimental determination of the vibrational temperatures T₃ and T₂ were used to optimise the active medium. About 200 stimulated emission lines were excited by regular and nontraditional transitions in the range λ = 9.1–11.3 μm. The output energy per pulse was in excess of 2 and 1 J for the strong regular and nontraditional lines, respectively.