Waveguide CO/sub 2/ lasers pumped by broad-band radiation

The aim of the work described was to determine the scaling characteristics of a large-scale blackbody-pumped laser system and to understand the physics of a radiation-pumped gas laser. A quasi-continuous-wave laser system with heated tantalum foils as the broadband radiation source was therefore developed. Measurements of the laser power under a broad range of lasing conditions were conducted using this system. To facilitate this investigation, computational modeling of source pumping power and laser gain were also developed based on radiative transfer equations and vibrational mode analysis.<
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