Beam Diagnostics for High Energy Pulsed CO(2) Lasers.

To examine high energy CO(2) pulsed laser beams, reliable sampling and attenuation procedures were devised using the properties of coarse transmission gratings and diffuse scatter from specular metal mirrors. Details of measurements and alignment procedures are described including a single shot, nondisruptive method for effectively scanning the time integrated focal distribution of a high energy pulsed laser. In addition, it is shown that a simple multiple burn pattern technique can be used for the quantitative measurement of the integrated distribution. The data obtained demonstrate near diffraction-limited capability for large e-beam lasers with unstable resonators.