title: Ultrashort CO(2) laser pulse generation by square-wave mode locking and cavity dumping.
abstract: The techniques of active square-wave mode locking and cavity dumping are used for the first reported time in a cavity containing a 10-atm TE discharge CO(2) laser amplifier module. The cavity is seeded with radiation from a line-tunable cw CO(2) laser. The synchronizable, injection-locked, Q-switched, mode-locked, and cavity-dumped laser oscillator reliably produces 5-mJ, <500-psec single pulses (detection limited) with a jitter of <+/-50 psec relative to firing the UV-triggered spark gap. These pulses are the shortest reported for actively mode-locked CO(2) lasers.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Houtman
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meyer