Photoinitiated TEA CO laser at low temperatures

Photoinitiated discharges between continuous electrodes have been stabilized in high-pressure (CO, He, N
2
) laser mixtures at 100 K. A 1/2-1 device, with restricted output aperture, has yielded 1.9-J/I atm (160 torr, 100 K) in smooth 240-μs-long pulses with an efficiency of 2 percent, representing a sevenfold improvement over previous results. The unrestricted output is estimated at 5.7-J/1 atm with 6-percent efficiency.