Plasma-injection-stabilized discharges in CO and He at low temperatures

Abstract

Pulsed and cw discharges in low-temperature flowing mixtures of CO and He, typical of those required for efficient laser action at 5 μm, are stabilized by convective flow injection of a weakly ionized plasma maintained by an auxiliary discharge adjacent to the main discharge volume. Pulsed input energy densities range from 0.5 kJ/l atm at 300 K to 0.2 kJ/l atm at 80 K for pressures on the order of 50 Torr and discharge pulse lengths of approximately 1 μs. Continuous discharge operation has been demonstrated with specific input powers of 300 W/(g/s) at pressures and temperatures of 40 Torr and 110 K.