Gasdynamic chemical laser utilizing $D-O_3-CO_2$ and $H-O_3-CO_2$ mixtures. I. Experimental investigation

Results are presented of an experimental investigation of a cw supersonic chemical laser utilizing $D-O_3-CO_2$ and $H-O_3-CO_2$mixtures. For a $D-O_3-CO_2$ mixture the highest small-signal gain was $2,65\pm0,13$ m${}^{-1}$ and the lasing power reached $960\pm50$ W. In this case, the specific lasing power and chemical efficiency of the laser were $60\pm4$ W$\cdot$sec/g and $18\pm1$%, respectively. For an $H-O_3-CO_2$ mixture under the same experimental conditions, the maximum gain of $2,45\pm0,13$ m${}^{-1}$ was achieved, which was only 8% lower than that for a $D-O_3-CO_2$ mixture. The downstream length of the inversion zone exceeded 20 cm. The mixing scale of the reagent streams was determined from the absorption of ultraviolet probe radiation by ozone.