Influence of gas temperature on self-sustained volume discharge characteristics in working mixtures of a repetitively pulsed COIL

Abstract

The influence of gas temperature on the characteristics of a self-sustained volume discharge was studied in the working mixtures of a chemical oxygen – iodine laser with pulsed electric-discharge production of iodine atoms. In experiments, laser working mixtures were modelled by the mixture of air and iodide . It was established that mixture heating is accompanied by an increase in the voltage across the discharge plasma and by a decrease in the discharge current. By varying the temperature of the mixture with the iodine content of and initial pressure Torr from to , the current amplitude falls by , and at the instant corresponding to a maximal current the voltage raises by . Such a change in the discharge characteristics is explained by a higher rate of electron attachment to vibrationally excited iodide molecules at elevated temperatures.