A hybrid unstable-waveguide resonator and output characteristics of a gap CO2-laser with high-frequency excitation

Experimentally and theoretically, we investigate the energy and spatial parameters of CO₂-laser generation with a gap active-medium geometry, high-frequency excitation, and an unstable-waveguide resonator. A generation power of 54 W is achieved in the continuous regime with the shape of the output radiation beam close to an axisymmetric one without resorting to external correcting optics. S. A. Esenin Ryazan State Pedagogical University, 46 Svoboda Str., Ryazan, 390000, Russia. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 66, No. 6, pp. 784–790, November–December, 1999.