Wavefront instability of iodine laser radiation and dynamics of optical inhomogeneity evolution in the active medium

The mechanism for the onset of small-scale optical inhomogeneities in the active zone of iodine photodissociation lasers is identified. It is found that in iodine lasers, the radiation undergoes a nonlinear defocusing self-interaction as a result of the closed chain radiation-chemical reaction-gasdynamic perturbation-radiation. As a result of the slow response of the medium, the parametric buildup of smallscale optical inhomogeneities is possible. It is noted that under such conditions, a similar effect may be observed in other types of lasers. It is shown that under inversion storage conditions and short pulse amplification, small-scale optical inhomogeneities should not be observed.