Abstract

This paper describes a study of the thermorelaxation process of CO₂ laser material with an optogalvanic spectrum. After chopping the laser light, a rectangular CO₂ laser pulse with a duration of 100–500 μs was obtained. It was inserted into a CO₂ discharge tube, and its optogalvanic spectrum was detected. A 4-ms negative pulse tail behind the narrow positive pulse appeared in the optogalvanic spectrum (Fig. 1). To compare with the optogalvanic spectrum signal of molecular CO, the CO laser radiation with the same pulse duration was inserted into the same CO₂ discharge tube, and the optogalvanic spectrum of CO molecules produced from the CO₂ molecular dissociation during discharge was detected. Figure 2 shows that the CO optogalvanic spectrum has no negative pulse tail, and it is different from that of CO₂.

© 1986 Optical Society of America