Properties of an array of phase-locked CO2 lasers

An experimental investigation was made of the emission characteristics of a coherently operating array of waveguide CO₂ lasers. The lasers were phase locked by self-reproduction of periodic light fields. Three supermodes of the array were found to exist, an investigation was made of the radiation power distribution over the aperture as a function of the active medium pumping level, and the efficiency in the coherent lasing regime was determined.