Investigation of a cooled electron-beam-controlled CO laser. I. Laser action pure carbon monoxide

The first experimental investigation was made of the threshold, energy, temporal, and spectral characteristics of a pulsed cooled electron-beam-controlled laser utilizing pure carbon monoxide. The experiments were carried out in a system having an active volume of ~5 liters at an active gas temperature of ~100°K and a density up to 1.0 amagat. The excitation duration was varied in the range 30-300 μsec. Laser action was observed in the spectral range 5.1–5.5 μ and, as the pump energy was increased, the spectrum broadened into short-wavelength range. It was found that the efficiency of an electron-beam-controlled pure carbon monoxide laser did not exceed 10%. The measured parameters of the electron-beam-controlled carbon monoxide laser did not agree with the results of theoretical calculations.