Analysis of the spatial scales of optical inhomogeneities in active media of high-power gas-flow laser amplifiers

A harmonic analysis was made of the spatial scales of regular optical inhomogeneities in high-power laser amplifiers with a continuously flowing active medium. The wavefronts of the probe radiation reconstructed by interferometry made it possible to determine the distribution of the Strehl number over the spatial scales of inhomogeneities in the active medium of a cw chemical laser. The greatest contribution to the overall level of optical distortions in this laser came from a large-scale inhomogeneity, whereas small-scale periodic perturbations of the phase had practically no influence on the divergence of the output radiation, because their amplitude did not exceed the permissible limit (1 rad).