Optimizing CW CO2 lasers with respect to output power in different bands

Continuous-wave CO2 lasers generating at the lines of nontraditional transitions, such as 00(0)2-10(0)1, CO(0)2-02(0)1, and 01(1)1-11(1)0, are beginning to be successfully used in certain applications. A wider use of these lasers will depend on the optimization of their output parameters. It is shown here how the output power of a CW CO2 laser generating at the above transitions can be optimized by using information on the vibrational temperatures of excited CO2 molecules in the active medium.