Abstract

There have been numerous studies of gain coefficients in CO₂ laser discharges. Even in pulsed discharges, measured gain coefficients rarely exceed 4 % /cm, and this limitation has been ascribed to a saturation of the energy stored in the v₃ mode of CO₂. Dang et al.¹ have shown that electron de-excitation in the discharge is responsible for the v₃ mode saturation.

© 1986 Optical Society of America