Electron-beam-controlled CO laser emitting submicrosecond pulses

Output radiation pulses of less than 1-microsec duration (at half height) and with a peak power up to 5 MW were generated by switching the Q factor of the resonator of a cooled electron-beam-controlled CO laser. The dependences of the lasing characteristics on the composition of the gas mixture, excitation-energy density, rate of Q switching, and Q-switching delay were determined. The time needed for the formation of a plateau of the distribution function of the populations of the vibrational levels of the CO molecule in the course of vibrational-vibrational relaxation found experimentally was considerably greater than the time predicted theoretically.