Electron-beam-controlled laser utilizing the first overtones of the vibrational–rotational transitions in the CO molecule. II. Energy characteristics
An experimental investigation was made of the dependences of the output energy and efficiency of a pulsed electron-beam-controlled laser utilizing the first overtones of the CO molecule on the power and energy of excitation, characteristics of the active gas mixture, and Q factor of the resonator. In an apparatus having an active volume of 4 liters, a CO–N2–He gas mixture was excited and specific output energies of around 10 J/liter−1amagat−1 were realized at an efficiency of ~ 5%. It was found that in order to achieve high laser energy characteristics one must suppress lasing at the fundamental frequencies and use long relatively low-power pump pulses. A qualitative explanation is put forward for the observed behavior.