Experimental research on space-overlapped and time-synchronized dual-wavelength transversely excited atmospheric pressure CO2 laser.

We have developed a new type of dual-wavelength transversely excited atmospheric pressure (TEA) CO2 laser that possesses space overlap and time synchronization. Our experiments have proven that the time interval of two output pulses with different frequencies can be adjusted from 1000 ns to 200 ns. In this way, the requirement of dual-wavelength excitation in a material can be achieved for isotope separation purposes. This TEA CO2 laser contains a grating-plate cavity formed by one germanium plate and two gratings, where the two gratings partially overlap in the space. The gratings, which are placed in tandem, are mutually beneficial via the germanium plate and establish double-frequency oscillation. The dual-wavelength laser is exported from the germanium plate. It is a changing of the effective area of two gratings that enables us to adjust the space overlap of the two output pulses. By simultaneously adjusting the quantity of misalignment in the gratings angle to vary the spectral line geometry loss, which can be used to reduce the time interval of the two output pulses, a time synchronization can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]