Effect of the discharge gap on the performance of a transverse–flow CW CO2 laser

Operational characteristics of a homemade low power fast transverse flow CW CO2 laser such as output power, gas pressure and, gas mixture composition were investigated for different discharge gaps in 1.5–2.5 cm range. Maximum power of 19 W was obtained with CO2:N2:He1:2.5:1 gas mixture at 120 mbar total pressure and 1.5 cm discharge gap.