Experimental investigations on gain and maximum output of the He-Ne laser

The influence of homogeneous and inhomogeneous line broadening on gain saturation, optimum decoupling and output power of the He-Ne laser is investigated experimentally. It is shown that both types of broadening are present, and that the output power is essentially determined by the homogeneous part if the gas pressure is chosen for maximum output. Experimental results are obtained forλ=0.633 μ andλ=1.15 μ and tubes of different diameters and lengths.