Pulse code modulation of CO(2) TEA laser pulse.

The tail of the CO(2) TEA laser pulse has been successfully pulse code modulated with an electrooptic modulator. A CdTe crystal Pockels cell used in a double-pass configuration produced a train of optical pulses 100 nsec wide at a 5-MHz repetition rate. With this multifunctional capability, the CO(2)TEA laser can be utilized for both precision ranging and information transfer. A 92% depth of modulation was observed using this Pockels cell modulator configuration.