Laser amplifier for picosecond CO2 facilities of terawatt power level

In this paper the design features and the results of studying an amplifier for a picosecond terawatt CO2-laser facility are given. The active medium of the amplifier (a CO2–N2–He gas mixture) is excited by a self-sustained volume discharge. The amplifier with an aperture of 0.1 m×0.1 m and with an active medium volume of 10 l provides the possibility for amplifying the 10 μ m radiation of a picosecond laser up to the terawatt power level. A volume discharge at a pressure of 10 atm and at a molecular gas content of 5% with a power input level of 80 J l−1 atm−1 was initiated. The optical gain constant of a small signal of the amplifier active medium was 0.027 cm−1 at a pressure of 8 atm, which confirms the possibility of high-pressure amplifier use as a final amplifier in picosecond CO2-laser facilities with a power output level of 1–10 TW.