High-power photopreionization-stabilized carbon dioxide waveguide lasers operating at gas pressures of up to 13 atm

A simple photopreionization-stabilized waveguide laser is energized effectively by fast Blumlein-type pulsers and operates at pressures of up to 13 atm. The laser has an active plasma volume of ∼0.2 cm3 and provides 20 ns gain-switched pulses with beam energies of 10 mJ. The maximum pressures and beam energies are more than an order of magnitude higher than those published previously; the peak power is enhanced by two orders of magnitude.