High intensity CO2 laser-plasma interaction

Efficient shortening of self-chirped picosecond pulses in a high-power CO_2 amplifier

“…Several groups of researchers have utilized the plasma shutter for truncating nanosecond CO 2 laser pulses. 4,5 A second technique makes use of the bandwidth imparted to a CO 2 pulse when the beam is rapidly amplitude and phase modulated by an ionization front as the front spreads over the focused laser spot. 6 A narrow-band, resonant absorber follows this plasma shutter, which blocks the long pulse but transmits the short, broadband pulse associated with the closing time of the shutter.…”