The hybrid biased CO/sub 2/ laser

This paper presents the initial design of an optimum high power microwave pumped CO/sub 2/ laser using the same principals as one would use in the design of a high power microwave MESFET amplifier or oscillator. The unique feature here is the use of the concept of the non-uniform transmission line matching. The non-uniform transmission line facilitates the coupling of the microwave energy from the microwave waveguide to the CO/sub 2/ plasma tube. Using this approach it is predicted that the final CO/sub 2/ laser design will result in a compact and light weight laser optimized in both power and efficiency.