Characteristics of sealed-off waveguide CO_2 lasers

Gain and output power of sealed-off waveguide CO_2 lasers are presented as a function of gas mixtures and total gas pressure. Experimental data on circular-bore and square-channel waveguide lasers are presented. Output power per unit length of 0.2 W/cm is achieved for both types of lasers in agreement with gas-discharge scaling laws which are presented. Saturation intensities as high as 24 kW/cm^2 are inferred from the data. The effects of the optical properties of the waveguide wall material on the waveguide losses are discussed and theoretical waveguide loss versus wavelength is presented for BeO, Al_2O_3, and fused silica.