Pulse-periodical CO2 laser operating at pressures up to 12 atmospheres

Abstract

The results of an experimental investigation of the "electrical wind" as a means of convective renewal of gas mixtures in the gas–discharge gaps in CO₂–laser mixtures at superatmospheric (1–12 Atm) pressures are presented. It is established that for a fixed value of the current of a unipolar corona discharge, the speed of the "electrical wind" does not depend on the pressure, but is determined by the chemical composition of the working mixture. The maximum values of the "electrical wind" velocity were achieved in pure carbon dioxide and molecular nitrogen and their values are 3.2 and 2.9 m∙s^–1. In typical CO₂:N₂:He laser mixtures = 1:1:3 – 1:1:6 the values of the speed of the "electrical wind" are in the range from 2.5 to 1.5 m∙s ^–1. It is reported about the design and generation characteristics of a small–sized sealed–off metal–ceramic CO2 laser of superatmospheric pressure with an "electrical wind" operating at pulse repetition frequencies up to 25 Hz. At an operating pressure of 12 atmospheres and the excitation zone of the volumetric pump discharge V =18∙0.8∙0.8 cm³ achieved the maximum radiation energy in a pulse of 0.8 J with a duration of up to 10 nanoseconds.