Advanced Concept of Discharge Oxygen-Iodine Laser

Abstract

[Abstract] This paper deals with a new advanced concept of discharge oxygen-iodine laser (DOIL). The concept includes a supersonic DOIL with a discharge singlet oxygen generator (DSOG) and a discharge atomic iodine generator (DAIG). A newly designed DSOG, denoted as DSOG-6, comes out from a proposed original physical method of singlet oxygen (SO) generation for a DOIL. The proposed method is based on a fast mixing of hybrid plasma jet of DC electric arc and radio-frequency (RF) discharge with a neutral oxygen stream. This unique method is an alternative to the chemical generation of SO for a chemical oxygen-iodine laser (COIL) and also an alternative to the classic high-frequency discharges used since the first successful experimental demonstration of DOIL in the year 2004. Recently, the main effort in the world is concentrated on search of more efficient DSOG with a higher yield and a higher pressure. Compared to COIL, DOIL does not use dangerous chemicals; it has a longer period of operation and reduced dimensions and weight. The goal of our effort is achievement of laser oscillations in DOIL by the new method, which should allow higher SO yields over 30 % at total pressures exceeding 10 Torr. The method appears to be promising for scaling DOIL up to a high power with a good efficiency at a reasonable price. A newly designed DAIG, denoted as DAIG-2, comes out from a proposed original physical method of atomic iodine (AI) generation for DOIL and COIL. The proposed method is based on cw/pulsed RF discharge dissociation of iodine donors directly inside an iodine injector with an enhanced assistance of UV light and with subsequent immediate supersonic injection of AI into DOIL or COIL. Our method substitutes the classic generation of AI by SO, it saves SO energy for laser generation and it increases efficiency of DOIL and COIL. This unique method also significantly minimizes losses by iodine recombination and losses by premature quenching of SO. It would increase the laser power by ~25 % for COIL and 2-3 times for DOIL with no increase in SO pumping. This method is a promising alternative to the chemical generation of AI and also a more efficient alternative to other discharge methods of AI generation for DOIL and COIL. Compared to the chemical generation of AI, the discharge method does not use dangerous gases such as chlorine or fluorine and it produces a fraction of AI directly in the excited state. Both the subsystems DSOG-6 and DAIG-2 will be used simultaneously in our future supersonic DOIL scheduled for the end of the year 2009.