Investigation of the gain in a self-sustained discharge with a transverse gas flow

A systematic experimental investigation was made of the dependences of the gain K₀ on the input power and on the pressure and composition of a CO₂–N₂–He gas mixture. The gain distributions along and at right-angles to the direction of gas flow, and also the distribution of K₀ after a discharge, were studied in a wide range of plasma characteristics. Analytical expressions were obtained for calculating the gain in a steady-state self-sustained discharge. A comprehensive comparison of the results of the calculations with experiment showed them to be in satisfactory agreement. Calculations were made of the gain distributions downstream for different initial values of the velocity and temperature of the gas.