Pulsed chemical HF laser with a large discharge gap

The characteristics of the radiation emitted by an electric-discharge pulsed chemical HF laser with a discharge gap of 10 cm are studied. The discharge was stabilised by a semiconducting ferroelectric ceramic layer deposited on plane metal electrodes. The specific energy and technical efficiency were 3 J L^-1 and 3.4%, respectively, for a laser operating on a nonchain reaction in SF₆–H₂ mixture and 25 J L^-1 and 26%, respectively, for a laser operating on a chain reaction in F₂–O₂–SF₆–H₂ mixture.