Cryogenically cooled CW electric discharge CO laser operated with CO2 laser mixture

We report lasing on multiple wavelengths in the 5 mu m region from a non-selective CW-CO laser cavity utilizing the CO2 laser gas mixture when its gain length was maintained at LN2 temperature. The inversion obtained in the CO medium formed by the dissociation of CO2 gas in the discharge made this possible. The findings are significant as the handling of the toxic CO gas that is conventionally employed in the generation of wavelength in the 5 mu m region has been dispensed with. A maximum CW output power of 8 W was obtained at an electrooptic efficiency of 8%. The cascading lasing transitions have been identified and matched with known transitions available in the literature.