Abstract:
The specific features of operation of the unstable optical resonator of a large gas laser with an active medium containing stochastic phase inhomogeneities are considered. The output power of the laser, the Strehl number, the angular divergence and average far-field radiation intensity are studied as functions of the spatial scale and structure of random inhomogeneities of the refractive index of the active medium. Physical effects related to the deformation of the radiation pattern caused by a change in the spatial frequency of stochastic perturbations are analysed.