Atmospheric-pressure H2-F2 laser initiated by electron-beam-irradiated discharge

Initial performance of an electric-discharge-initiated chemical laser pumped by the H2-F2 chain reaction is presented. Uniform microsecond-scale discharges in atmospheric-pressure laser mixtures have been obtained after a short-duration ionizing pulse of high-energy electrons. Care in discharge pulse shaping is required to avoid late-time arcs. Informaiton is presented on the effects of several parameters on laser performance. With a 3 H2 : 6 F2 : 54 He : 37 Ar mixture as much as 28 J/liter of discharge energy could be deposited in the mixture, and laser energies up to 42 J/liter were obtained. This corresponds to a chemical efficiency of 6.3%, based on the H2 content, and an electrical ’’efficiency’’ of 148%, based on the available lasing volume and total energy input to the medium.