Thermally pumped gasdynamic laser utilizing transitions between levels of the ν1 and ν2 modes of the CO2 molecule, emitting in the 16.4–17.2 μ range

The present paper reports the attainment of laser action in a thermally pumped gasdynamic laser utilizing transitions between levels of coupled CO₂ modes in the 16.4–17.2 μ wavelength range. An interesting feature of these experimental results is that laser action was observed for a large number of vibrational–rotational lines. These new lasing transitions achieved for a CO₂ gasdynamic laser considerably increase its possible practical applications.