Design and Performance Characteristics of A Small Subsonic Flow HF Chemical Laser

A small, transverse flow, moderate power cw hydrogen fluoride chemical laser is described. This laser provides up to 10 W of cw output power on a number of Pv(J) lines associated with 3→2, 2→1, and 1→0 vibrational transitions of hydrogen fluoride (HF). Single line power levels of up to 1.5 W were obtained on the strongest HF transitions. The measured electrical efficiency was [inverted lazy s] 1% for a total mass flow of 100 mg/sec. The gain and spectral power distributions were found to be characteristic of a complete inversion rather than a partial zero field inversion on the 2→1 transitions.