WAVE-GUIDE CO2-LASERS ON SEQUENCE-BAND TRANSITIONS

Two waveguide CO2 lasers, a quartz waveguide and an alumina waveguide, have been studied on the 00 degrees 2-[10 degrees 1,02 degrees 1](I,) (II) sequence bands. The use of an intracavity hot CO2 cell, which is a part of the waveguide, suppresses the regular-band transitions. The quartz waveguide laser has a total of 58 lines lasing on both the 9.4 mu m and 10.4 mu m sequence bands. The alumina waveguide laser has 36 lines lasing on the 10.4 mu m sequence band and twice the output powe r of the quartz waveguide laser, whereas lasing on the 9.4 mu m sequen ce band is difficult. The lasers can be operated on the selected singl e line without line jumping problem. The frequency tuning range of the strong lines is limited by the free spectral range of the cavity.