DENSITY BEHAVIOR AND WAVE-FRONT ERROR FOR A NUCLEAR-REACTOR-PUMPED GAS-LASER

Taylor-series expansion coefficients are derived to fourth order for the density field of a gas undergoing fission-fragment pumping from a nuclear reactor. The density solutions are used to calculate the gain cell's index of refraction, internal ray paths, optical path differences, and focal lengths. The ray paths are shown to exhibit nearly random behavior near the gain cell's exit aperture, and the cell's focal lengths are shown to oscillate from + infinity to - infinity with astigmatic- and spherical-type aberrations present in the calculated output intensity.