High-pressure radiation-chemical laser initiated by a fastelectron beam from a coaxial high-voltage diode

An investigation was made of the energy parameters of a SF₆–H₂ radiation-chemical laser operating at pressures up to 10 atm. The active mixture was initiated by an electron beam formed in a field-emission coaxial diode. The maximum energy of the laser radiation obtained from a SF₆:H₂ = 70:1 mixture at a pressure of 2.7 atm was 0.79 J, which corresponded to a specific energy output of 21 mJ/cm³. The efficiency of conversion of the electron beam energy into laser radiation was 5%.