13.5 - Interferometric methods for measuring dispersion in CO2laser oscillations and amplifiers

An interferometric method is described for measuring the phase shifts caused by anomalous dispersion in laser active media under actual oscillating conditions. In addition, some data are presented which show how this method can be used to measure dispersion in a single-frequency 10.6-micron CO2laser plasma. The application of an interferometer of this kind to laser frequency stabilization is also discussed, and an absolute frequency stabilization scheme for CO2lasers is suggested. Because the phase shift observed is an antisymmetrical function about the center of the molecular resonance, it can be used directly as an absolute frequency control discriminant. The resulting frequency control system requires neither amplitude nor frequency modulation of the laser. A modification of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer for the measurement of dispersion in laser amplifiers is also described. This modified interferometer was used to measure phase shift as a function of frequency in an unsaturated traveling-wave CO2amplifier. The oscillographic data resulting from these measurements are shown.