Tunable Q-switched/cavity-dumped Z-fold CO/sub 2/ waveguide laser with two channels and common electrodes

A tunable Q-switched/cavity-dumped z-fold CO/sub 2/ waveguide laser with two channels and common electrodes is studied. The Q-switched and cavity-dumped pulse lasers have been obtained from the z-fold channel with the tunable pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 1-70 kHz. At the Q-switched operation, the peak power is 730 W and the pulsewidth is 150 ns at the PRF of 10 KHz. At the cavity-dumped operation, the pulse laser width can be adjusted. The peak power is 6000 W with the pulsewidth of 20 ns and 3400 W for 32 ns. CW laser output has been obtained from the other channel and its frequency can be tuned by a piezoelectric transducer. The Q-switched and cavity-dumped pulse laser heterodyne waveforms are observed.