Electron-beam-controlled hydrogen–iodine laser

A method is proposed for attaining pulsed laser emission at the wavelength of 1.3 μ from iodine atoms as a result of electron-beam-controlled excitation of hydrogen–iodine mixtures. Quasiresonant vibrational–electronic exchange between H₂ and I results in a population inversion. It is shown that a deposited energy of the order of 0.3 J·cm^–3·amagat^–1 corresponds to an ultimate laser efficiency of ~50%.