Abstract
The phenomenon of passive Q-switching of a CO2 laser by CH3F is observed experimentally and analyzed by the use of a set of rate equations which describe the energy transfer processes in the laser–absorber system. The parameters which appear in the laser rate equations are measured in a separate series of measurements under the actual lasing conditions which exist during the Q-switching experiment. The parameters of the absorber rate equations were verified in a separate cw saturation experiment. The result of the Q-switching experiment shows that the present model can give a good account of the dependence of the pulse width, pulse peak power, and the pulse period on the absorber pressure. It is found that cross relaxation in the absorber plays a crucial role in this dependence. Another result of this study is that the integrated intensity of the ν3 band of CH3F is equal to 619 ± 28 cm−2 atm−1 at 300 K.
© 1977 Optical Society of America
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