Detection of vibrationally excited O2 in the active medium of a chemical oxygen – iodine laser

The presence of vibrationally excited oxygen in the active medium of a chemical oxygen – iodine laser is discovered using the emission technique. Using the analysis of the luminescence spectra of oxygen molecules on O₂(b¹Σ_g⁺, v=i)→O₂(X³Σ_g^-, v'=i) (i=0, 1, 2) electronic vibrational – rotational transitions, it is shown that ~22 % of O₂(b¹Σ_g⁺) molecules are at the first vibrational level and ~10 % are at the second one. Moreover, due to the fast EE energy exchange, a mean number of vibrational quanta per one molecule in each of the O₂(X³Σ_g^-), O₂(a¹Δ_g) and O₂(b¹Σ_g⁺) components is approximately the same and amounts to 30 % – 40 %.