Stimulated emission from carbon monoxide transitions below 5 μm excited in supersonic electric discharge

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Abstract
Low‐power cw laser emission from carbon monoxide excited by an rf discharge maintained directly within a supersonic (M ≈2.5) flow has been observed to consist predominantly of the lower‐lying vibrational transitions. Optical power is extracted before the quasi‐steady‐state vibrational population distribution (dominated by vibrational‐vibrational energy exchange) is achieved. P‐branch laser emission has been observed on the ν=4→3, 5→4, and 6→5 vibrational transitions (λ = 4.89−5.04 μm) with a shifting to the higher vibrational transitions as the optical axis is translated downstream. A theoretical model coupling the effects of electron‐impact pumping, molecular energy transfer, multiline laser emission, and nonequilibrium gas dynamics has been developed descriptive of this system. Representative model calculations are compared with experimental data.