Abstract
We report on recent studies aimed at improving the chemical efficiency of the supersonic chemical oxygen-iodine laser (COIL). Efficiencies around 30% for the supersonic COIL have been the state-of-the-art in the last decade. By carefully studying and optimizing the operation of the chemical generator, the mixing of reagents in different nozzles and the optical extraction efficiency, we achieved a new record (40%) for the chemical efficiency of the supersonic COIL and approached the theoretical limit for this efficiency. The effects of the partial pressure of 02 and the residence time of the flow in the generator, as well as the heating of the nozzle, are discussed and shown to be crucial in attaining this high efficiency.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 15 |
| Pages (from-to) | 87-95 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering |
| Volume | 5777 |
| Issue number | PART I |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 18 Oct 2005 |
| Event | XV International Symposium on Gas Flow, Chemical Lasers, and High-Power Lasers, GCL/HPL 2004 - Prague, Czech Republic Duration: 30 Aug 2004 → 3 Sep 2004 |
Keywords
- Chemical lasers
- Iodine
- Oxygen
- Power lasers
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Computer Science Applications
- Applied Mathematics
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering