Investigation of the active medium in a fast-flow closedcycle industrial CO2 laser

A high power fast-flow closed-cycle industrial laser is described. The distribution of the unsaturated gain K₀ in the active medium was measured using the P20 line of the 00⁰1–10⁰0 CO₂ transition provided by a frequency-stabilized tunable CO₂ laser. A study was made of the dependences of K₀ on the discharge chamber input energy and on the composition and pressure of the CO₂–N₂–He active mixture. On the basis of the data obtained, a method was developed for optimizing the resonator parameters and excitation conditions in fastflow electric discharge CO₂ lasers. A laser output power of 7.5 kW was obtained for an input energy of 60 kW.