Abstract

A concise technical description of the design and working principles of a CO₂ (H₂O) - N₂ (Ar) CW gasdynamic laser facility is given. Primary results of experiments, carried out with the use of conventional optical resonators are discussed. The obtained power of radiation (λ≅10.6 um) transmitted out of the cavity amounted to P_c=35, the corresponding power density per unit volume of resonator was p_c=2.29 W/cm³ whereas the output power per unit mass flow was equal to g_c=1.15 kW/kg⋅s^-1. The radiation beam divergence was about θ≅22'.

Furtheron, the facility in question is compared with other CW gasdynamic lasers and the possibilities of its optimalization, aimed at increasing the output power and overall efficiency, are formulated.