Measurements of Small Signal Gain Coefficients of a Supersonic Flow CO Chemical Laser

Abstract

Small signal gain coefficients of a supersonic flow CO chemical laser are measured using a shock tunnel facility. A high temperature mixture of CS2, CS, S2, S and Ar is produced in a shock tube, where the thermal dissociation of CS, diluted in Ar is accomplished by a reflected shock wave. The shock-heated mixture is exhausted through two-dimensional supersonic nozzles mounted at the end of the tube and mixed with the supersonic streams of O2. Then, the vibrationally excited Co molecules are produced in the mixed streams. In the present paper, the dependence of the small signal gain coefficients on the downstream distance from the nozzle, the plenum conditions and the transition branch is studied. The data obtained in the present experiments are available to examine the propriety of the theoretical model which was developed previously.