Numerical modelling of kinetic processes in the plasma of a supersonic electric-discharge CO laser excited by a microwave discharge

A model is developed for calculating pump parameters of the active medium of a supersonic electric-discharge CO laser excited by a microwave discharge. A variant of the design of such a radiation source is described. Calculations are performed both for the "hot" variant of the radiation source, when the gas mixture is produced by burning the fuel in a gas generator, and the "cold" variant, when the gas mixture is supplied to the discharge region from gas vessels. The regions of optimal values of the reduced field strength and parameters of the gas mixture for the "cold" variant are determined. It is shown that the parameters of the active medium obtained in the "hot" variant correspond to the parameters of highly efficient radiation sources reported in the literature.