Subnanosecond multi-gigawatt CO/sub 2/ laser

A semiconductor switching technique has been utilized to produce 30-300 ps variable duration CO/sub 2/ laser pulses of 0.5-MW peak power. Eight passes through a 1.2-m long, UV-preionized, 3-atm TE CO/sub 2/ amplifier raise the output laser peak power to the 10/sup 10/ W level. Sampling the amplifier gain in linear and saturated regimes using CO/sub 2/ laser radiation ranging from CW to 30 ps pulse length permits comparison with computer modeling of picosecond CO/sub 2/ pulse amplification. The potential for further peak power scaling of picosecond molecular lasers is discussed.<
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