Scaling generalizations for a CO electric laser

Several scaling generalizations for a high-pressure CO electric-discharge laser (EDL) are presented and compared with experimental data from a pulsed e
^-
-beam-stabilized device. It is shown that the transient evolution of the CO laser medium is mainly dependent only upon the total energy deposition per CO molecule as a function of time. Results of theoretical calculations for CO/Ar mixtures are presented which show that, for temperatures 100-300 K, laser threshold occurs after
E/p_{CO} \sim 0.5 - 1.0
J/1/torr (CO) has been deposited, and that steady state is attained after
E/p_{CO} \sim 1.7 - 2.6
J/1/torr (CO) has been deposited, Experimental results for a variety of CO/Ar and CO/N
2
mixtures confirm these predictions for a range of excitation rates. These generalizations make it possible to predict the temporal power characteristics of a large class of both pulsed and flowing CW CO lasers without resort to extensive computer calculations. Characterization of the gain saturation as a function of total radiation intensity was also investigated. Results indicate that, after attainment of steady state, the CO EDL saturates with threshold level like a simple two-level system, with a scaled saturation intensity of
I_{sat}\xi/p_CO^{2} \sim 0.6 = 6.4
W/cm
²
/torr
²
(CO) over the range of temperatures from 60 to 300 K (
\xi
is the fraction of CO self-broadening to total broadening).