Effect of misalignments on phase-locking in a large area discharge CO2 laser

• Equiphase surfaces excited by the injected beam are given in the laser resonator.
• The effect of phase-locking is studied in detail.
• Effects of misalignments of resonator mirrors on light intensity are described.

The line deviations and angle deviations of the injected beam at the resonator mirrors in the large area discharge CO2 laser (LADCL) are changed when the output mirror and the phase-locking mirror (PLM) are misaligned. The equiphase surfaces excited by the injected beam are different in the laser resonator and the effect of phase-locking will be influenced. It is shown that the misalignment of PLM is the main cause of phase-locking range reduction. The misalignment of the output mirror will mainly result in the deviation of the output beam, and the misalignment of the PLM will mainly cause decrease of the light intensity. And the maximum misaligned angle should not exceed 20 s in order to obtain the ideal effect of phase-locking. The calculated results can provide references for studying deeply the misalignment of LADCL.