1 kW slab CO2laser excited by a self-excited rf generator

A 100 MHz rf discharge excited slab carbon-dioxide laser with the near diffraction limited output power of 1.07 kW and the efficiency of 12.6% was studied. The size, including the laser head and the rf generator, is 1/4 of the fast axial flow laser. The self-excited rf generator with a cavity resonator made the laser simple and compact. To determine the rf excitation frequency, the discharge characteristics were studied at both frequencies of 40 MHz and 100 MHz.