Arc-excited flowing CO chemical laser

Abstract

Application of thermal dissociation of O 2 , developed within arc-heated gas mixtures, followed by a sufficiently rapid convection to preserve 0 atom concentrations and subsequent C~ injection, has generated efficiently a CO laser medium. In preliminary experiments, this pumping technique has produced a 34-W cw laser emitting over a band of vibration-rotation transitions from 4.9 to 5.71.1 from a 5-cm active transverse optical cavity.

Chemical co lasers based on carbon-disulfide flame

“…The characteristics of the laser medium when carbon disulfide was oxidized in a steady-state supersonic flow were first studied in [17]. Such studies were stimulated by the fact that the temperature of the operating medium is lowered for a supersonic velocity of the flow, which results in an increase in the gain and an improvement of the energy-related parameters of the active medium.…”

“…Such studies were stimulated by the fact that the temperature of the operating medium is lowered for a supersonic velocity of the flow, which results in an increase in the gain and an improvement of the energy-related parameters of the active medium. In [17], a plasmatron accomplishing the dissociation of molecular oxygen and providing a fairly high concentration of atomic oxygen in the pre-nozzle chamber was used to stabilize the combustion in a supersonic flow. The schematic layout of the system is illustrated in Fig.…”

“…In the first cw supersonic chemical CO laser [17], the chemical efficiency amounted to 6 % with specific energy output being equal to about 5 J/g. In the experiments performed in our laboratory with similar geometric characteristics of the gas-flow system, a chemical efficiency equal to 4 % and a specific energy output amounting to 4 J/g were obtained.…”

Electrically Excited, Supersonic Flow Carbon-Monoxide Laser with Air Species in Laser Mixture

“…[4]. Chemical CO laser in a CS 2 -O 2 -He-Ar mixture was demonstrated at temperatures up to T 500 200 K [5].…”

“…[1] have been obtained without using nonequilibrium discharge excitation, with C atoms generated by vaporizing graphite electrodes in a high-temperature arc discharge and oxygen added downstream [3]. These results are obtained in a collision-dominated environment (P 15-20 torr) at low rotational-translational temperatures (T 400-450 K), conducive to producing laser action [4,5]. A high fraction of reaction enthalpy stored in the CO vibrational mode at these conditions (at least 10-20%) [1] suggests that a chemical CO laser using carbon vapor and oxygen as reactants may operate at high efficiency.…”