Industrial sealed-off copper vapor lasers with improved efficiency and radiation power

Results of experiments aimed at improving the efficiency and radiation power of industrial repetitively pulsed copper vapor lasers are presented. Design and technological improvements are described which increase the efficiency of a laser oscillator up to 1–1.2% relative to the input power drawn from a rectifier and up to 1.4–1.6% relative to the power fed into an active element. The possibility of improving efficiency up to 1.8 and 2.9% respectively is demonstrated. For a laser amplifier, the efficiency is 1.2–1.3 times higher than for an oscillator. For a laser oscillator and a laser amplifier, the power drawn from the active element is 37 and 44 W respectively for a working volume of 250 cm³, 44 and 60 W for a volume of 350 cm³, and 55 and 70 W for a volume of 900 cm³.