High efficiency CO2 laser system 'LEKKO II' using multiline energy extraction

Physical and technical problems associated with the development of high-power CO2 laser systems are discussed, along with the performance characteristics of the 1-kJ LEKKO II dual-beam laser system designed for laser-fusion experiments. Problems considered include double-band multiline oscillation, short-pulse amplification, laser-gas optimization, isolation of amplification stages, system construction, and suppression of parasitic oscillations. It is shown that the output from the full LEKKO II system is about 400 J/beam in a 1-ns multiline pulse for an estimated prepulse energy of 0.15 mJ in 30 ns.