Reflection of radiation from a plasma mirror of an electron-beam-controlled CO2 laser

An investigation was made of the reflection of a stimulated emission pulse from a plasma mirror of an electron-beam-controlled CO₂ laser. The pulse consisted of a prepulse of ~100 nsec duration and a train of nanosecond spikes. The coefficient of reflection of the prepulse into the aperture of a focusing mirror did not exceed a few percent when the total coefficient of reflection into a solid single 2π sr was ~45%. An increase of the reflection coefficient in the aperture of the focusing mirror to ~20% was observed for the nanosecond spikes. This was due to exact baclcreflection along the direction of the incident pulse.