Electric-discharge pulsed F2 + H2(D2) chain reaction HF/DF laser with a 4.2-L active volume

Abstract

The properties of a pulsed chemical HF/DF laser with the 10 × 10.5 × 40-cm active volume and the 10-cm discharge gap are studied. Chain and nonchain chemical reactions were initiated by a barrier discharge in the active volume of the laser with the SF6 — H2(D2) and SF6 — F2 — O2 — H2(D2) mixtures, respectively. The discharge was stabilised by electrodes made of semiconductor ceramics. The maximum output energy of the 'nonchain'-mixture HF laser was Emax = 15 J, the specific energy E/V = 3.6 J L-1, and the technical efficiency, calculated by the stored energy, was ηt= 4.3%. For the 'chain'-mixture HF laser, these parameters were Emax = 130 J, E/V="31" J L-1 and ηt = 37%. The parameters of the 'nonchain'- and 'chain'-mixture DF lasers were lower by ∼35 % and ∼50 %, respectively.