Tunable TEA CO2 laser for long-range DIAL lidar

The high-power pulse-periodic TEA CO2 laser intended for use in the structu re of mobile ground-based long-range IR DIAL lidar is developed. For achiev ement of the highest peak power of radiation, the system of laser excitatio n with a voltage of +-/ 40 kV and effective preionization allowing one to w ork at high pressure of various gaseous mixtures is created. A study of ene rgetic, temporal and spatial parameters of laser radiation for used gaseous mixtures are executed at a pressure of 0.5-2.4 atm. The pulses of laser em ission with an energy more than 10 J and duration on FWHM of similar to 30 ns are obtained for the case of heliumless mixtures. The maximal obtained p eak power of the laser radiation is 100 MW. The maximal efficiency of the l aser including the energy deposited in the glow discharge is 12.6%. At the use of the selective cavity, the laser operation at 85 emission lines of th e CO2 molecule is obtained and at 60 lines, the energy of radiation exceede d 4 J. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.