Abstract

The radial construction of RF excited multi-channel slab discharge CO₂ laser is introduced into the solid laser [1–4]. The solid gain medium can be made by radial construction and output N laser beams. This has the effect of increasing the laser output power in direct proportion to N. The second advantage stems from the potential of having all of the individual lasers in the array operating in a coherent manner. When this situation is achieved, the maximum intensity of the radiation at the focal spot increases in proportion to N² with a corresponding reduction of the far-field focal spot size by $\sqrt{N}$.

© 2009 IEEE