Influence of small-scale inhomogeneities on the angular energy distribution of the radiation emitted by unstable-resonator lasers

An explicit expression is obtained for the angular distribution of the energy of the output radiation of unstable-resonator lasers, considered as a function of the parameters of small-scale inhomogeneities in the active medium. This expression is used to analyze the angular distributions of the radiation emitted from an electron-beam-controlled CO₂ laser and a dye laser, losses to the scattering of light are estimated, the scale of optical inhomogeneities growing during lasing is found, and some features of the growth of these inhomogeneities are identified.