Vibrational relaxation in molecular lasers at a high pumping level

The stationary-solution stability of the vibrational-relaxation equation is studied for the $\mathrm{CO}_2$ laser. A parameter range is found, in which decay instability is generated, leading under certain conditions to self-oscillation of the average number of quanta in the vibrational modes of the gas mixture. The influence of temperature variation on the generated instability and the effect of the latter on light generation are considered.