EFFECTS OF WIND ON THERMAL DEFOCUSING OF CO2 LASER RADIATION
- 15 January 1969
- journal article
- research article
- Published by AIP Publishing in Applied Physics Letters
- Vol. 14 (2), 52-54
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1652708
Abstract
A cw laser beam propagating in an absorbing medium may be spread, distorted, or deflected as a result of thermally self‐induced refractive index gradients. In this paper the results of an experiment are reported where a wind, transverse to the direction of propagation of a CO2 laser beam, is imposed on an absorbing medium consisting of a mixture of air and propane. The experimental results show, in agreement with a simplified theoretical model, that the effect of the wind is (1) to deflect the laser beam into the wind for a certain range of wind velocities and (2) to reduce the thermal defocusing or blooming which results from the processes of thermal conduction and natural convection.Keywords
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