Pulsed laser codes for use as instructional tools

Introductory laser courses often avoid much discussion of pulsed laser physics due to the necessity of solving coupled nonlinear rate equations. Several menu‐driven PC‐based codes have been prepared for student use at the Air Force Institute of Technology. The codes include point and traveling wave models of a generic Q‐switched laser, and point models of a repetitively pulsed Q‐switched Nd:YAG laser, a TEA CO₂ laser, and a TEA CO₂ amplifier. The codes use a predictor–corrector integration scheme to enhance numerical accuracy and minimize run time.