Multibeam cw gas-discharge CO2 laser lglan-3

A discussion is given of the fundamental principles underlying the construction of high-power multibeam gas-discharge lasers with diffusive cooling. An analysis is made of the constructional features of the main systems of the multibeam CO₂ laser Iglan-3. The experimental dependences are given of the laser output power on the discharge current, the working gas pressure, and the composition and circulation velocity of the laser mixture. Laser output powers of 4.6 and 3.5 kW respectively were obtained on using exit mirrors of ZnSe and KCl. The gain and saturation intensity of the active medium obtained by different methods were analyzed. The laser resonator efficiency was estimated for different exit mirrors. The electrooptic laser efficiency was found to be 14% and the energy efficiency 10%. Experimental data on the laser radiation beam divergence and on the intensity distribution in different cross sections of a focused beam are presented.