INFLUENCE OF THE ELECTRIC-FIELD FREQUENCY ON THE PERFORMANCE OF A RF EXCITED CO2 WAVE-GUIDE LASER

An analysis is presented of the effect of the RF frequency on the acti ve media of CO2 waveguide lasers. It is found that the characteristics are improved with increasing RF frequency because the space charge sh eath width decreases with increasing excitation frequency. We also fou nd that the sheath width decreases with the discharge current; this fa ct was never discussed before. The higher the exciting frequency the h igher is the maximum input power of the discharge in the stable low cu rrent mode. It is attractive to extend the input power while keeping t he discharge in this mode. Finally, a stabilizing excitation technique is described for the inherent unstable region of the discharge.