Dynamics of stimulated parametric scattering of CO2 laser radiation in SF6

An investigation was made of the characteristics of stimulated parametric scattering of two high-power CO₂ laser beams. Depletion of the pump pulse was observed, caused by the high efficiency of stimulated parametric scattering. It was found that different parts of the pulse were efficiently scattered, depending on the wavelength of the CO₂ laser radiation. Stimulated parametric scattering plays an important role in the mechanism of coupling the resonators when CO₂ lasers are frequency locked in SF₆. Some practical applications of stimulated parametric scattering are suggested.