1-kW, room-temperature, fast-axial-flow CO laser excited by a radio-frequency discharge

A fast-axial-flow rf-discharge-excited CO laser has been scaled up to produce an output power of more than 1 kW at room temperature (280-290 K). The discharge section is composed of eight discharge tubes, to which rf power is capacitively coupled. An output power of 1220 W is obtained with an Xe-added mixture, with corresponding electrical conversion eff iciency and specific output of 7.9% and 1.8 W/cm(3), respectively. Scaling characteristics of the scheme are discussed. The temperature dependence of the output, the output stability, and the beam properties are also reported.