Galvanic chaos in CO2 laser discharges

A. Bekkali, D. Hennequin, D. Dangoisse, P. Glorieux

1st International Laser M2P Conference (Lyon, France, july 1987)

J. Phys. France 48 C7-589 (1987)

Low-frequency instabilities (~ 5 kHz) have been observed on the output power of a dc-excited CO2 laser. By changing the gas mixture or the discharge current, they show up first as a sinewave and then as a chaotic modulation of the laser intensity. When the modulation amplitude reaches 100%, fast damped oscillations at the relaxation frequency of the laser are superimposed on them.