The design, construction, and operational characteristics of an optical resonator for an annular gain media are described. The system, developed for laser power extraction investigations in a new type of coaxial discharge geometry, features a folded multipass unstable resonator concept, fabricated from lightweight uncoated diamond-turned aluminum substrates. The resulting cw CO2 device incorporates excitation aspects of the nonself-sustained PIE excitation process in addition to a new magnetic discharge stabilization technique. Laser performance and output beam characteristics are presented.
The design, construction, and operational characteristics of a new type of power meter for high average power cw lasers is described. This multikilowatt calorimeter unit employs a novel high-velocity spinning water film to provide complete absorption of the incident laser radiation, at either high- or low-power levels, while still retaining good dynamic response and sensitivity. The design is sufficiently simple such that it can be easily fabricated from readily available workshop materials. Utilization of a suitably selected recirculating absorbing dye allows the power meter to be used with a number of different cw lasers.
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