A pulsed oxygen – iodine chemical laser excited by a longitudinal electric discharge

The dependence of the energy parameters of an oxygen – iodine chemical laser with a bulk generation of iodine atoms in a longitudinal electric discharge on the length of the discharge gap is studied for various discharge energies and voltages and various working mixture compositions (at constant oxygen and iodine pressures). Analyses of the results suggests that temperature effects account for a twofold decrease in the specific energy yield for the lasing initiated by a longitudinal electric discharge compared to the photolytic initiation.