Chemical Lasers from the Reactions of ClF and ClF3 with H2 and CH4: A Possible Chain-Branching Chemical Laser

Abstract

Both HF and HCl chemical laser emission have been observed from the flash photolysis of ClF–H2–Ar and ClF3–H2–Ar mixtures. In contrast, only HF laser emission is produced by flash photolysis of ClF–CH4–Ar or ClF3–CH4–Ar mixtures. For the ClF–H2 system, the presence of 3→2 HF transitions and the appearance of HCl transitions show that the H+ClF reaction divides to form very roughly equal amounts of HCl and HF. For HCl, equal–gain temperature measurements place k2/k1 in the range 1.2–3.8. The ClF3–H2 chemical laser is extremely intense, but it displays much lower vibrational excitation of HF than that of ClF–H2 or of ClF3–CH4. There is evidence that chain-branching reactions occur, which enhances the potentiality of the ClF3–H2 system as a possible high-power, continuously operating chemical laser.