This report investigates, both semianalytically and numerically, nonparaxial transversely two-dimensional spatial solitons for an arbitrary mechanism of the medium Kerr nonlinearity when the phenomenon of rotation of the polarization ellipse takes place. Numerically, the nonlinear propagation of laser radiation in the form of a fairly long pulse and a narrow beam has been studied. The effective self-focusing and formation of optical needles occur in the centre of the pulse. The field longitudinal component is especially large in the case of orientation mechanism of self-focusing.

Experimental and theoretical investigations were made of the active-medium gain and of the parameters of the radiation emitted by an rf-pumped slab CO2 laser. The average output power was 160 W and the efficiency was 10%. Near-diffraction-limited divergence was achieved. In the pulse-periodic regime, the pulse power was twice the average power in the cw regime. When external correcting optics was used, the total divergence of the laser radiation was 2–3 mrad at 0.8 of the total power. A suite of programs for numerical simulation of the physical processes in an rf-pumped slab CO2 laser with diffusion cooling was developed. The experimental and theoretical results were compared.

A study is made of the stability of an adaptive system utilizing phase conjugation along a path when wind carries away a heated gas from the beam channel and the adaptive effect is delayed.

A numerical investigation is made of the influence of misalignment on the lowest-order normal mode and diffraction losses in a conjugate resonator with a II-shaped aperture diaphragm and a Gaussian control diaphragm.

A numerical study is made of the feasibility of adaptive focusing by a point target using the method of phase conjugation in the presence of wavefront dislocations in the beam reflected by the point target. If a flexible adaptive mirror is used, it is undesirable to minimize the difference between its tilts and the tilts of the wavefront of the reflected beam. The use of piston mirrors is an effective technique provided the piston displacements are governed by the measured values of the differences between the phases at subapertures. The dependence of the density of dislocations on the length of the path of propagation of laser radiation across a turbulent medium is derived.

Numerical modeling method and simultaneous solution of the equations describing vibrational kinetics, hydrodynamics, and laser kinetics are used to study refraction of laser radiation by boundary thermal self-interaction waves in a pulsed electron-beam-controlled CO2 laser with a telescopic resonator. An analysis is made of the influence of this refraction on the deterioration of the divergence of laser radiation as a function of such parameters as an increase in the resonator length, pulse duration, and composition of the mixture. A calculation is made of the optimal values of the parameters for which the energy emitted in a given solid angle has its maximum value.

A theoretical study is made of the influence of the scattering on the wings of the angular distribution of radiation emitted from a laser with a plane-mirror resonator. The calculations are confirmed by a numerical experiment.