Effect of SF6 fluorine donor on the multikilojoule HF chemical laser initiated longitudinally by intense electron beams

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The effects of fluorine donor additives and initiation level on the HF laser output characteristics in a strong and short pulse initiation regime are experimentally and theoretically investigated. Typical parameters of the circular e beam used in the experiment are 2 MV, 60 kA, 65 ns FWHM, and 10 cm in diameter, and the e beam is injected longitudinally. The addition of SF6 gas to a mixture of F2/O2/H2 is found to increase not only the specific laser energy but also the electrical laser efficiency. The maximum laser energy obtained from the low‐pressure mixture of F2/SF6/O2/H2=200/84/60/45 (Torr) is 4.4 kJ in a 70 ns FWHM with an electrical laser efficiency of 203% and a chemical laser efficiency of 18.6%. Based on the experimental results, the scaling of the HF laser was established in terms of specific HF laser energy and electrical laser efficiency.