Pulsed CO2 laser with a mirror utilizing a four-wave interaction in an amplifying medium

An experimental investigation was made of the radiation parameters of a laser with a mirror based on a four-wave interaction, which was used as the exit reflector. Two four-wave interaction systems were used, one with counterpropagating reference waves inside an auxiliary resonator and the other without reference waves but with a self-intersecting beam that was reflected almost backward by the mirror. The pulse energy of the laser with a four-wave interaction mirror was 1 J and the output radiation had several angular components in the self-intersection plane. It was demonstrated that angular control of the laser beam may be achieved without adjusting the mirrors.