Regeneration of the active mixture of an iodine laser pumped by radiation from an open discharge

A chromatographic mass-spectroscopic analysis was made of the spent mixture in an iodine laser and amplifier pumped by an open high-current discharge. It was found that the chemical processes differed for the driven regime (amplifier) and the free-lasing regime (laser). This difference should result in the production of a larger quantity of J₂ in the driven regime which may give rise to differently designed regeneration systems for these two regimes.