Continuous self-mode locking of infrared gas lasers

Observation of continuous self-mode-locked pulses induced only by the nonlinearity of the laser medium is reported for the 10.6-μ CO
2
, 3.39-μ He-Ne, and 3.508-μ He-Xe laser transitions. Optical spectra of these pulses were taken with a scanning Fabry-Perot intefferometer. Attainment of self-locking was strongly dependent on the second-order spatial Fourier component of the excitation density in the optical cavity.