Azimuthally unstable resonators for high-power CO2 lasers with annular gain media

Stable-unstable resonators have proved suitable for the extraction of a high-quality beam from a gain area that consists of a rectangular slab. Such gain areas have two substantially different transverse dimensions, and the resonators are stable in the small dimension while unstable in the larger one. Using off-axis unstable resonators avoids a central beam obscuration and improves beam quality. The adaptation of stable-unstable resonators to annular gain areas is described in this paper. The resulting resonators are stable in the radial direction and unstable in the azimuthal direction. Different unstable resonators, wound to match the annular geometry, are presented. The resonator modes are calculated numerically using a 3D-diffraction code that considers gain and misalignment. Resonator design parameters are obtained from a geometrical description of the resonator. Experimental results from a diffusion-cooled CO₂ laser confirm theoretical predictions and show that the resonators are capable of extracting beams that are nearly diffraction-limited with high efficiency from an annular gain medium. Output powers of 2 kW have been obtained from a gain length of 1.8 m