Supersonic cw chemical DF laser with a nozzle unit based on the principle of three-layer reagent mixing

An experimental investigation was made of the energy and gasdynamic characteristics of a supersonic cw chemical DF laser of the self-contained type with a nozzle unit based on the principle of three-layer mixing. In accordance with this principle, reagent jets separated by helium jets were injected into the supersonic part of a mononozzle through a mixing array located in the subsonic part. The use of such a nozzle array made it possible to operate the laser at lasing zone pressures up to 2.9 kPa (instead of 0.3 — 0.7 kPa typical of traditional two-jet nozzle units), delivering a specific output energy of ~40 J g^–1.