Large-Aperture CO2 Amplifier
A report is given of construction of a CO2 amplifier with an aperture of 40 cm, pumped by an SSVD with a system of electrodes without a special profile. The SSVD formed as a result of filling the discharge gap with a flux of electrons from the plasma of an auxiliary discharge initiated under a grid cathode with sharp edges. The small-signal gain on the optic axis was 3.3 m−1 and its distribution over the aperture was nearly uniform.