Abstract

In a recent series of papers we reported results which establish a new operating regime for an electron-beam (e-beam) initiated pulsed chemical (DF CO₂) laser. This new operating regime produces high specific energy output (~30 J/liter) with laser pulse lengths of 30-100 μs when initiated by only 2-4 J/liter of e-beam energy. The key process to establishing the chemical burn is the formation of fluorine atoms by the e-beam deposited energy. The fluorine immediately reacts with D₂ to form vibrationally excited DF:

© 1990 Optical Society of America