Abstract

Various types of CO₂ laser have been investigated extensively. The CO₂ lasers reported, however, utilized the premixed gas CO₂N₂He, except for combustion-driven gasdynamic lasers. We have demonstrated a new scheme for CO₂ laser operation which utilizes organic vapors in air instead of a conventional CO₂ gas mixture. An active medium, a CO₂ molecule, is generated in the laser tube by electrochemical transformation of organic compounds (ECTO).

© 1984 Optical Society of America