Simultaneous intra-cavity detection of some physical effects in a CO2 laser

Abstract

For the first time three physical effects were simultaneously detected in an intra-cavity of a conventional CO2 laser; namely: opotoacoustic (OA), photopyroelectric (PPE) and antenna (AE) effects. Simultaneous detection of the effects aimed to allow: relate the origins of their signals with respect to each other and facilitate a study of those phenomena that occur in the laser active material.The implications of the study are many useful applications, including: the monitor of laser power and new laser stabilization methods. Results show that the effect’s signals follow to a good degree the laser power magnitude, but the PPE have the optimum correlation. This result enhances the future use of PPE as an in expensive internal laser power meter and constitutes a good reference signal for laser stabilization purposes. Contrary to the AE signal, the OA and PPE signals were found to have the same origin although they were detected using different sensors.