BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS: Determination of unsaturated gain of an He-Ne laser with transverse microwave pumping
An experimental study was made of the unsaturated gain of the active medium of an He–Ne laser pumped transversely by a microwave discharge. The gain increased monotonically when the pump frequency was increased and in the range 880–900 MHz it was 50–60% higher than the gain for a dc discharge. Moreover, an increase in the pump frequency reduced the optimal specific pump power.