Abstract

The high gain and narrow linewidth of HF chemical lasers lead to a large resonant component of the refractive index. Calculations indicate that this (unsaturated) anomalous dispersion is at least as large as the nonresonant Gladstone-Dale dispersion. Possible deleterious effects of anomalous dispersion are briefly reviewed. These effects in a high-power device are mitigated by multimode operation, which acts to saturate homogeneously the anomalous dispersion at intensities considerably lower than those required for power broadening of the inhomogeneous Doppler line shape over to a homogeneous line.

© 1981 Optical Society of America

Inhomogeneous broadening effects in multimode cw chemical lasers

Harold Mirels
Appl. Opt. 20(2) 362-373 (1981)

Anomalous dispersion effects in low-pressure atomic-iodine lasers at 1.315 μm

L. A. Schlie
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 71(9) 1080-1093 (1981)

Multimode low-pressure cw chemical laser performance including source flow effects

Harold Mirels
Appl. Opt. 20(14) 2379-2388 (1981)

Lorentz broadening in the modeling of the HF chemical laser

J. J. T. Hough
Appl. Opt. 16(8) 2297-2307 (1977)

Frequency stability associated with a cw HF laser

J. J. Hinchen and R. J. Freiberg
Appl. Opt. 15(2) 459-461 (1976)