Initial performance of a CW chemical laser

The performance of a continuous HF chemical laser is presented in this paper. Population inversion was obtained by diffusion of H₂ into a supersonic jet containing F atoms [H₂+F ? HF(v)+H₁ ?H=-31.7 kcal/mole]. A peak power of 630 W was obtained with an F atom flow rate of 0.040 mole/sec, and the efficiency of conversion of chemical energy to laser energy was 12%. The performance of a corresponding DF laser is also given. Major laser output is from 2-1 and 1-0 transitions for both lasers. Radiation is at 2.6 to 2.9µm and 3.6 to 4.0µm for the HF and DF lasers, respectively. The ratio of DF to HF laser power is 0.7 under similar flow conditions.