Progress toward the demonstration of a visible (blue) chemical laser

John M. Herbelin

doi:10.1117/12.25981

1 February 1991 Progress toward the demonstration of a visible (blue) chemical laser

John M. Herbelin

Proceedings Volume 1397, 8th Intl Symp on Gas Flow and Chemical Lasers; (1991) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.25981
Event: Eighth International Symposium on Gas-Flow and Chemical Lasers, 1990, Madrid, Spain

Abstract

The nitrogen fluoride/bismuth fluoride reaction system continues to be under intensive investigation as an energy source to power a short wavelength (visible blue) laser. The majority of these efforts have centered upon the development of an extensive kinetic database and the successful scaling of the excited state to the densities required for laser operation. Meanwhile, very little is known about the ground state properties, in particular the distribution of the population in the vibrational levels. This work has been directed toward the characterization of this distribution by analyzing the emission from a high "Q" resonator surrounding a 1.5-m pin discharge facility. The results from this study show that the lower-state vibrational 1evels are not fully relaxed and, if one attempts to approximate it by a Boltzrnann distribution, the resulting temperature, T*vib = 1800 K, is substantially higher than the excited state temperature, T*vib = 950 K. Moreover, the intracavity results show that the system is very close to threshold on the 0—3 transition, and that operation of the reaction system at lower temperature and pressure, such as can be achieved in a supersonic flow medium, may be sufficient to produce lasing.

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John M. Herbelin "Progress toward the demonstration of a visible (blue) chemical laser", Proc. SPIE 1397, 8th Intl Symp on Gas Flow and Chemical Lasers, (1 February 1991); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.25981

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