Extended use of the sealed HBr chemical laser by "Cl<inf>2</inf>activation"

Abstract

A new passivation technique, which we call "Cl <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> activation," has been developed for the pulsed HBr chemical laser. Hundreds of HBr laser shots have been observed from the sealed H <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> + Br <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> gas mixture as the result of the Cl <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> activation. Under normal conditions, HBr molecules accumulate in the reagent gas mixture after laser oscillation, and the accumulated HBr molecules hinder subsequent laser oscillations. In Cl <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> activation, Cl <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> molecules attach themselves to the stainless steel electrodes in the pin-rod TE-type laser tube. The attached Cl <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> molecules react with the HBr molecules which were produced by the laser reaction. As a result, HBr molecules do not accumulate in the gas mixture. The mixture returns to its original composition after each lasing. As a maximum, about 700 laser shots have been observed.