Generation of the fundamental tone and first overtone radiations in a pulsed H2 — F2 laser

A theoretical simulation is reported of a pulsed chemical H₂ — F₂ laser. The possibility of simultaneous generation of the fundamental tone and of the first overtone is considered. Superluminescence at the fundamental harmonic is included specifically in the adopted model. It is shown that efficient overtone generation in a mixture of high energy capacity at a pressure of 1.1 bar is possible at initiation levels of 10¹⁶ and 10¹⁷ cm^–3 when the length of the active medium does not exceed 50 and 10–cm, respectively. The corresponding calculated specific output energy of the first-overtone H₂ — F₂ laser can reach 11 and 75 J litre^–1, respectively, which represents 20% and 40% of the specific output energy at the fundamental tone.