A transversely rf‐excited CO2 waveguide laser

An electrodeless CO2 waveguide laser with transverse rf pumping is described. In the rf cw mode, the laser emits up to 0.6 W at 100 Torr. In the rf pulse mode, atmospheric operation has been achieved with pulse duration of 20 μs and peak power of a few watts at a repetition rate of 300 Hz.