Electric-discharge pulsed F2 + H2(D2) chain reaction HF/DF laser with a 4.2-L active volume

The properties of a pulsed chemical HF/DF laser with the 10 x 10.5 x 40-cm active volume and the 10-cm discharge gap are studied. Chain and nonchain chemical reactions were initiated by a barrier discharge in the active volume of the laser with the SF₆ — H₂(D₂) and SF₆ — F₂ — O₂ — H₂(D₂) mixtures, respectively. The discharge was stabilised by electrodes made of semiconductor ceramics. The maximum output energy of the "nonchain"-mixture HF laser was E_max = 15 J, the specific energy E/V = 3.6 J L^-1, and the technical efficiency, calculated by the stored energy, was η_t= 4.3%. For the 'chain'-mixture HF laser, these parameters were E_max = 130 J, E/V = 31 J L^-1 and η_t = 37%. The parameters of the "nonchain"- and "chain"-mixture DF lasers were lower by ~35 % and ~50 %, respectively.