Lasing characteristics of a longitudinal-discharge cryogenically cooled cw CO laser

An investigation was made of the influence of the input energy, gas flow rate, active mixture composition, and discharge zone length on the energy characteristics of a longitudinal-discharge cryogenically cooled gas-flow CO laser. A high efficiency of $\gtrsim30\%$ was obtained in a wide range of experimental conditions, with a laser output power reaching hundreds of watts. The influence of the input energy on the spectral composition of the laser radiation was investigated. Qualitative explanations are given of the dependences obtained.