Hybrid Te-TEA sealed off CO2 laser with corona preionization

In this paper the performance of a very simple, sealed-off, corona preionized hybrid Te-TEA laser capable of SLM operation is reported. This system is particularly useful for heterodyne detection, which requires tight frequency control of the transmitter laser. SLM operation has been achieved by inserting in the laser cavity a low pressure gain section operating in a pulsed mode and transversally excited (TE). The dependence of the shape of the output pulse on the delay between the two pulses exciting the low pressure section and the TEA section is reported and optimum values of several parameters have been determined.