High-repetition-rate plate-electrode CO2 laser

A high-repetition-rate CO₂ laser with the inductive-capacitive discharge stabilisation is studied for the first time. A multisection discharge gap of length 250 mm was formed by pairs of anode — cathode plates arranged in the form of a broken line. The width of the discharge region between each pair of the plates was ~1.3 mm and height ~12 mm. The cross section of the laser beam on the output mirror of the resonator was ~ 6 × 8 mm. The maximum output energy of the laser using the CO₂:N₂:He=32:32:96 Torr mixture was 15.9 mJ, the lasing efficiency being 1.7%. For a relatively low gas flow rate of 19 m s^-1, a CO₂ laser pulse repetition rate of 3 kHz was achieved, the relative root-mean-square deviation of the pulse energy being within 5%. The average output power of the laser was ~40 W.