High-power coherent TE N2laser using four-stage oscillator-amplifier system

An improved oscillator-amplifier system is presented in a Blumlein-driven TE N 2 laser. Four laser channels-an oscillator, preamplifier and two main amplifiers-are connected to a common spark gap, and the discharge timing of these laser channels is adjusted by varying the pressure of the gas in the cavities. The characteristics of the laser light obtained from the laser system are a maximum power of 1.3 MW, a pulse width of 6 ns and a beam divergence of less than 1 mrad. Therefore this laser system is very useful for time-resolved absorption spectroscopy and laser plasma generation.