High-power waveguide laser

Claim 1

An electrically excited, diffusion-cooled high-power gas laser, comprising: an optical waveguide formed by two constantly spaced wall surfaces extending in a longitudinal direction between two ends of said waveguide and in transverse direction to two outer side edges of waveguide and having a transverse width being a multiple of the space between them; excitation means for applying high-frequency electrical energy to the wall surfaces; a flow-free discharge chamber for a laser gas enclosed in one direction by said wall surfaces; an optical resonator having first and second resonating mirrors disposed at first and second ends, respectively, of said optical waveguide, said resonator being an optically unstable resonator including a beam path extending lengthwise of a resonator axis oriented approximately parallel to said longitudinal direction and said beam path expanding transversely to said resonator axis; said resonator being arranged with respect to said waveguide such that said tranverse expansion of said beam path in a direction perpendicular to the wall surfaces extends over said space and, in a direction parallel to said wall surfaces, extends between said outer side edges of said waveguide and at the most to said outer side edges.