4-BRANCH OSCILLATION FROM A DUAL-POLARIZATION CAVITY CO2-LASER

We report here for the first time multiline oscillation of a cw-CO2 la ser on all the four branches 10P, 10R, 9P, and 9R where all laser wave lengths share a common gain medium. The 9R, 9P and 10R branch lines la sed at the expense of the high-gain 10P branch lines for which the cav ity offered very high transmission losses. The 10P(20) line was made t o lase by constructing another cavity with orthogonal polarization, th ereby easing the strong competition between this line and the relative ly low-gain 9R, 9P and 10R branch lines within the gain medium which i s common to both cavities.