Theoretical and experimental study of the injection-locked TEA CO2laser incorporating electron-plasma prepulse chirp phenomena

Electron-plasma-induced chirping phenomena are incorporated into a quantitative theoretical treatment of an injection-locked compact TEA CO
2
laser. For the first time, inferred estimates of both the magnitude and sense of the single mode detuning range asymmetry about resonance are shown to agree with experimentally derived data. Conditions for chirp-free operation are discussed and demonstrated.