WIDE-BAND TUNING OF A HIGH-PRESSURE CO2-LASER BY MEANS OF INTRACAVITYACTIVE FREQUENCY-SHIFT

Intracavity active frequency shift, a unique method of shifting the fr equency of pulsed lasers, was applied to a high-pressure CO2 laser whi ch has a continuous gain profile over a wide range of the spectrum. In order to extend the amount of frequency shift, the dependence of the maximum frequency shift on the laser gas pressure was investigated. As a result, it was found that the maximum frequency shift was limited b y the gain duration time rather than by the gain bandwidth at a pressu re of 8-10 atm. By shortening the cavity length, the maximum to demons trate the frequency shift starting from each lasing line of the CO2 la ser. calculations, the maximum frequency shifts starting from most las ing lines of a multi-isotope cw CO2 laser can exceed 10 GHz, resulting in coverage of almost the entire gain spectrum in the high pressure C O2 laser.