Electric-discharge SF6–H2 laser pumped by an inductive storage unit

An experimental investigation was made of an electric-discharge SF₆–H₂ chemical laser with an inductive storage unit in the pump system. This unit made it possible to achieve–without preliminary ionization–a homogeneous longitudinal electric discharge in a cell whose volume was 3.7 liter at pressures in the mixture up to 46 Torr. The output radiation energy reached 6.9 J and the power was 40 MW (the energy stored in a capacitor bank was 3 kJ). The maximum specific output energy of 6.2 J/liter was obtained from a volume of 0.29 liter at a pressure of 68 Torr in the SF₆:H₂ = 3:1 mixture.