Investigation of a $CO_2$ amplifier emitting microsecond pulses

A computer study was made of the energy and temporal characteristics of a $CO_2$ laser amplifier, pumped by a nonself-sustained high-pressure gas discharge. The control of the shape and duration of the output pulse was investigated in a master-oscillator-amplifier system by varying the delay time of the input pulse relative to the initiation of pumping in the amplifier active medium. The dependence of the saturation energy on the pump energy density was determined and the influence of the excitation parameters and of the input radiation on the energy characteristics was considered.