Transient optical nutations in a CO2 amplifier

A study is made of the influence of coherent effects on the profile of a nanosecond CO₂ laser pulse. Experimental observations of optical nutation are compared with an approximate solution of the quasiclassical equations and with the results of a numerical simulation. Coherent interaction effects are shown to influence the emission pulse profile in the high-power CO₂ systems used in laser thermonuclear fusion studies.