RESUMO
The optical performance of a cw PIE CO(2) laser has been substantially improved through the adoption of a burst-mode gain switching technique. The approach has provided a doubling of the average beam power extractable from the device. With appropriate optimization, the process could possibly permit the attainment of pulsed energy extraction in the kilohertz range, and with average optical powers within the several tens of kilowatt category.
RESUMO
A theoretical investigation of a stable concave-convex resonator configuration, which appears suitable for single-mode high-power energy extraction from large volume gain media, is presented. The design features annular output coupling with a surprisingly uniform near-field intensity distribution. The computer-based analysis, supported by preliminary experimental results, suggests that acceptable alignment tolerances are provided along with an unusually small beam divergence. With proper design, a far-field divergence of 0.5 mrad, encompassing near 80% of the total laser energy, appears feasible. Operational data, recently obtained with this optical extraction approach, have revealed a further important practical advantage over an unstable resonator, being far less prone to mode degradation and hot spot formation on optical component misalignment.
